iii. THE GODS ACCEPT BURNT GRAPES AS PAYMENT
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Luke pressed a bag into her hands. "Here. It's all for you."

Still half-awake, Gwen opened the bag and stared blindly at its contents. A toothbrush, toothpaste, pads, other toiletries... And he'd said they were all hers.

She frowned at him. "You didn't have to buy these for me."

"Who said I bought them?" He grinned. "Now c'mon. You're gonna make us late."

Now fully awake, Gwen realized that most of the cabin had already gotten dressed in the orange camp shirts and made their beds. Flustered, she scrambled to grab her bag of stolen toiletries and get out the door.

"Gwen!"

She turned and caught a piece of bright orange fabric to the face. Some of the kids around her giggled. When she pulled the camp shirt away, Luke gave her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry," he said. "Don't worry. We'll get your godly reflexes up to speed."

Gwen got herself ready as fast as humanly possible. Still dripping wet from her shower, she darted back to the Hermes cabin just as a horn blew in the distance and kids began filing out of the cabins.

Apparently, each cabin lined up in order of seniority, because she got stuck at the end of the line.

Luke marched them up to the mess hall pavilion, where they somehow squeezed themselves into the single table reserved for cabin eleven. Gwen found herself elbow-to-elbow with a pretty girl who she immediately recognized as the girl that had talked to her the night before.

"I'm Cleo," the girl said. "Did you sleep alright?"

Gwen gave her a look. "No."

Cleo just laughed and told her that she'd get used to it eventually. Well, Gwen wanted to say, maybe I don't want to get used to sleeping on the ground.

The mess hall had been filled with chatter, but the campers fell silent when Chiron pounded his hoof on the pavilion floor.

"To the gods!" He said, and raised a glass.

All of the other campers echoed him, so Gwen raised her empty glass and did the same. She didn't sound very convincing.

After the toast, Cleo nudged her. "Tell it what you want to drink."

Gwen looked at her like she had sprouted a third arm. But when Cleo turned to her own glass and said, "Apple juice," it immediately filled itself with a golden-brown liquid.

"Just make sure it's non-alcoholic," she added with a grin.

Nodding, Gwen asked her glass for lemonade. Sure enough, it filled itself with lemonade, and it tasted perfect. Just like the homemade stuff her dad made in the summer.

A handful of pretty women had begun to pass out platters of food to the tables. Fresh fruit, rolls, eggs, bacon... She was about to go straight for the juicy strawberries on her plate when Cleo nudged her.

"Not yet," she said.

Even though it was a bright June morning, a fire burned in a brazier at the center of the pavilion. Looking around, Gwen realized that the other kids had taken their plates up to the brazier and dropped a portion of their breakfast into the fire.

Luke sidled up to her in the line forming at the brazier. "They're offerings for the gods."

"Seriously?" Gwen asked.

"Yup." He shrugged. "They like it. And, I mean, who are we to tell the gods no?"

She watched as Cleo went up, bowed her head, and scraped a piece of bacon into the fire. It actually hurt her soul to watch that go to waste.

Luke did the same, but before he dropped his food into the fire, he said, "Hermes."

And then it was her turn. Gwen didn't know who to pray to. Any god could be her parent, right? How did she pick just one to offer the food to?

Also, she wasn't too happy with her real godly parent for letting her sleep on the floor.

Gwen looked over to table twelve, where Mr. D sat with a half-dozen teenage boys, and frowned. She tossed in a few measly grapes and made a silent ask: Humble that guy. Please.

At least the smoke from her burnt grapes smelled good. Like flowers and baked goods and a lot of other things that lifted her mood. She could still smell it as she followed the other Hermes kids back to their table.

"I didn't know Mr. D had that many kids," she said. "I thought he got stuck here."

Cleo followed her gaze back to the table and laughed. "Oh, those are the satyrs. Mr. D is kind of like their boss."

"Satyrs?" Gwen frowned, but she saw it as one of the boys stood up― instead of a normal bottom half, he had furry legs and hooves. Two little horns poked out from his curly red hair.

"Half-human, half-goat." Cleo motioned to the table. "Mr. D's only real kids here are the twins."

Two blond, round-faced boys were talking at one end of the table. They didn't share much of a physical resemblance to Mr. D, but hey, maybe his nasty personality was genetic.

Talking about Mr. D that much must have jinxed them, because Chiron pounded his hoof on the pavilion floor again, and he stood up. Gwen decided to glare at a spot just above his shoulder.

"I've been told I have to say hello to you all more often," he said. "So... Hello. There. Now, Chiron tells me that our next capture the flag is in two days' time. That's Thursday. As of right now, cabin six holds the laurels."

Cheers erupted from a table to Gwen's left. As they subsided, Cleo whispered that those kids were the children of Athena. Highly skilled, and also highly competitive.

"Also, Chiron has told me to introduce you all to our newest camper," Mr. D continued. "Grace Roberts."

Chiron gave him an expectant look.

"Gwen Rosales," he corrected. He didn't sound thrilled to introduce her. "With that... Go on. Get out of here."

Gwen felt a few pairs of eyes on her as all of the cabins began to file out of the pavilion. She had just stood up to follow Luke and the rest of the Hermes cabin, but he stopped her.

"So... What's up?" She asked. "What are we doing now?"

"Well, we are going pegasus riding," Luke said. "You are going to talk to Chiron."

Her heart dropped. "Am I in trouble?"

Luke didn't have much to offer there. He gave her a pat on the back and sent her on her way, since the Hermes kids had begun getting rowdy without a counselor to watch them.

Halfway to the Big House, Gwen realized that her parents had told her to bring the folder to the people in charge. Chiron seemed to be the one in charge here, even though Mr. D was the official camp director, so...

As she walked to the Hermes cabin, she took in the other cabins that lined the field. Two brilliant marble buildings stood at the head of the field, and she only realized they were different when she saw a peacock carved into one and lightning bolts carved into the other. That one belonged to Zeus. One cabin gleamed so brightly in the sunlight that she had to squint to see it properly― that had to be Apollo's. Cabin five had been messily painted red, with a boar's head over the doorway. In contrast, cabin three was blue and decorated with seashells. Poseidon's, probably.

She had half a mind to go in, but something told her that it would be a bad idea. Reluctantly, she tore her eyes away from the beautiful cabin three and ducked into cabin eleven's worn old doorway.

Clutching the folder to her chest, Gwen made her way back towards the Big House. She had an apology prepared, just in case, but something told her that Chiron wouldn't really mind if she showed up a few minutes late.

She figured he'd be on the back porch again. Most people seemed to come and go that way, rather than using the front door. It kind of defeated the purpose of a doorbell.

Voices were coming from the porch. Gwen heard them as she made her way around the house, and she faltered. Maybe Chiron had another appointment before her.

"You didn't tell me there was a new camper."

She didn't recognize that voice. But also, she'd been at camp for twelve hours. She didn't recognize a lot of voices.

"Probably because she arrived last night."

That was Mr. D.

Gwen considered going around to the front of the Big House and ringing the doorbell.

She took a second to brace herself. Somehow, fighting a murderous school nurse seemed less deadly than interrupting a god's conversation. Before she could talk herself out of it, Gwen took a deep breath, rounded the corner, and came out on the back porch.

An unfamiliar woman stood on the porch. At a glance, she probably could have been mistaken for an older camper, but she looked to be in her thirties. She wore denim cutoffs, sandals, and a shimmery green shirt tied at the midriff. Her wavy blonde hair had been pulled back with a tiny starfish clip.

And she was furious.

Maybe she had a death wish, because she was getting all up in Mr. D's face when Gwen showed up. She wanted to tell this lady Hey, maybe don't yell at an Olympian, even if they're wrong!, but something told her it would be useless.

When she stepped onto the porch, they both stopped mid-argument and stared at her. Chiron was nowhere to be found, which made Gwen think that this had been a set-up by the Hermes kids.

She frowned. "Who are you?"

Angry Lady bristled. "My name is Phaedra."

"Okay, well, I'm trying to talk to Chiron." Gwen made a little gesture with her hand. "So if you'd, you know, move...?"

If looks could kill, Mr. D's immortality probably would have been tested that morning. Angry Lady― or Phaedra― gave him a downright withering glare, but he just shrugged, as if to say, You heard the kid.

Before Phaedra stormed off the porch, she spat something at him. "Exòloio!"

Gwen had never spoken a word of Greek in her life, but somehow she registered that as "Drop dead!"

Unfortunately, that insult didn't really work when you were talking to a god.

Before an awkward silence settled over the porch, Chiron trotted into view and smiled. "Forgive me, Gwen. I had to set up the archery range for cabin seven."

Just over his shoulder, Gwen could see Phaedra marching herself straight into the lake. She wondered if people usually drowned themselves after talking to Mr. D for longer than five minutes.

Chiron must have noticed her expression, because he looked back at the lake. "I see you've met Phaedra."

"Is she... Okay?" Gwen asked. "I mean, she isn't coming back up for air or anything."

He just smiled. "Oh, she'll be alright. Phaedra is a naiad."

"A... What?"

"Naiads are nature spirits that inhabit fresh water." Chiron motioned back to the shore. "Most of the time, the naiads at camp stay in the lake. Phaedra just happens to be the most outgoing of them all."

Mr. D scoffed. "And the most vocal."

"Luke said that you wanted to talk to me," Gwen blurted out, hoping to avoid any more input from the disgruntled Mr. D.

"We didn't have much time to talk when you arrived last night," Chiron said. "I think it's best that we take a walk."

A walk sounded like a great idea. Gwen followed Chiron around the side of the Big House, past the lake's shore. She craned her neck, hoping to get a view of any other naiads, but she only saw a handful of canoes and rafts tethered to a dock a little ways away.

"So... Gods are real," she said. "And one of them is my mom or dad."

"Right." Chiron smiled. "But not God, with a capital 'G.' That's a little more complex."

"I thought the Greek gods were... You know. In Greece."

"Well, yes," Chiron said, and began to lead her towards what looks like an arena. "That's where they began. See, Gwen, the gods are tied to the heart of Western civilization. And here, in America, is where it burns brightest. Two thousand years ago, it simply happened to burn the brightest in Greece."

Gwen stared at him. "The gods are in America?"

"Oh, yes."

"But isn't Mount Olympus in Greece?"

"The physical Mount Olympus is still in Greece," he said. "But here, in America, it's a sort of haven for the gods. This haven moves with them, but out of respect, we still call it Mount Olympus."

She frowned. "You say that like they've moved before."

"Oh, they have." Chiron smiled. "They moved all around Europe before settling here. Italy, England, France... And now America."

"How long will they stay here?" Gwen asked. Part of her hoped it wasn't for very long.

"As long as the heart of the West remains here," Chiron answered.

She nodded, even though she didn't really understand a word of what he'd said. Then, realizing she still had it in her arms, she handed Chiron the folder.

"My parents made this," she said. "They said you should have it."

Chiron skimmed through the pages for about a minute. He didn't seem outwardly amazed by anything in there, and Gwen wondered if he'd hand it right back to her.

"Well, your parents certainly are dedicated," he replied, and tucked the folder under his arm. "I'll take a closer look at this in the afternoon."

That made Gwen feel a little better. At least her parents had done something about all of this Greek god stuff. But things still didn't feel right.

"How did they know?" She asked. When Chiron frowned, she added, "I mean, how did they know to write it all down?"

He smiled again. "I told them."

"You?"

"Me." He chuckled and said, "As Mr. Baker, of course. But I wanted to prepare them for the strange happenings that lay ahead when they adopted you."

"So then... Do you know who my godly parent is?" She asked.

"I have my suspicions," Chiron replied. "But I could always be wrong."

She wondered if he realized how unhelpful that was.

Chiron sent Gwen on her way after circling back to the armory, where the Hermes kids had assembled to polish armor. She made sure to stay near Luke and Cleo― not that she trusted them very much, but some of the other kids had been eyeing her duffel bag earlier, and she figured Luke would put them in their place.

After armor polishing came Ancient Greek. Gwen had never had to actually try to learn a language, so she was less than thrilled, but Ancient Greek came naturally. She thought back to that insult Phaedra had hurled at Mr. D, and realized that she was hard-wired for this stuff.

Weird.

The Hermes cabin entered lunch with a little too much pent-up energy. Right after Ancient Greek came Greek mythology, so they basically had to sit still for two hours and do nothing but listen. The stories interested Gwen, but the actual lesson was a nightmare.

Luke brought Gwen up to the front of the pack as they left the mess hall for the lake. "Ready to try some whitewater rafting, Gwen?"

"You're joking," she said.

He just grinned. "Try not to lose your lunch."

They looked pretty stupid, standing on the dock in puffy life jackets and waiting for... Nothing. Eventually, Luke had to drop back, because two kids began whacking each other with their life jackets and there was a good chance that they'd fall in.

A few rafts began floating their way over to the dock, seemingly guided by magic. Gwen peered over the edge and nearly fell over when a girl poked her head out of the water. She grinned as she held up a fistful of ropes and began tying the rafts to the docks.

Giving them paddles felt like a bad idea, too. Gwen took the raft with Cleo and a few other Hermes kids. The girl in the water― a naiad, she guessed― called one of her friends over to help lead the rafts away from the docks.

Apparently, the river that fed into the lake created the rapids. The two naiads led the group, each perched on the bow of a raft. Gwen didn't know how they didn't fall off the rafts once they reached the rapids.

And even though it wasn't a race to get through the rapids, Luke treated it as one. Every time his raft took the lead and the kids inside erupted into cheers, Gwen thought about launching her paddle at them.

They returned at the end of the hour, soaking wet and completely exhausted. A few kids dragged themselves out of the rafts and laid on the bank of the lake, basking in the sunlight.

Gwen let Cleo help her back onto the dock and looked out at the water. A rock formation jutted out of the lake, and one of the naiads had stretched out on the flat surface of the rocks. There was no mistaking that shimmery green shirt.

"I know her," she said. "I met her today."

Cleo glanced over at the naiad. "Everyone knows Phaedra."

"Is she always such a jerk?" Gwen muttered.

That made Cleo laugh, and she said, "I don't know. Maybe she plays favorites."

Luke began to round up the campers, so Gwen stole one last glance at Phaedra from the dock. She seemed to be talking to thin air― until Gwen noticed Mr. D standing on the back porch of the Big House. Between her lazy grin and the way he put his hands on his hips, the scene kind of reminded her of an old man yelling at a very stubborn stray cat in his backyard.

Obviously disappointed by whatever answer she got from Mr. D, Phaedra rolled off of the rock formation and fell into the water like a ragdoll. It probably should have been more worrying, but she could breathe underwater and already had a reputation as a troublemaker. Gwen just rolled her eyes and followed the Hermes kids back to cabin eleven.

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They played archery knockout that night. Gwen, who had never once picked up a bow, had been the first kid out. A few of the hopeful Apollo kids looked pretty dejected after that.

As she watched the game go on, she wondered if everyone was interested in her godly parent. Chiron had already said that he had his suspicions, but did the other campers care? Did they have a bet going or something?

Also, Chiron's suspicions had been eating at her all day. She didn't see herself fitting into any of the other cabins. Did that mean she would get stuck with the Hermes kids forever? What did he see in her that she couldn't figure out for herself?

Cleo made it pretty far in archery knockout, but the Apollo kids bumped her out. She sat down next to Gwen, nudging her slightly. "What's on your mind?"

"Take a wild guess," Gwen muttered, and stared at the back of some Apollo girl as she raised her bow.

Bullseye. Of course.

"You know, I haven't been claimed either," Cleo said. "I've spent three years here. Sometimes it takes time."

"Do I look patient to you?"

She laughed. "No. But it's not bad. The Hermes cabin is fun."

"Sure," Gwen said. "I love getting pickpocketed."

Maybe she had been too pessimistic, because Cleo didn't say anything after that. And the longer she stayed at the archery range, the more she felt suffocated by the crowd of other campers.

When they all headed back to the amphitheater for the campfire, Gwen stole away to the lake. The sound of the water and the glint of moonlight soothed her... And she also wanted to take her frustration out by skipping (read: launching) rocks across the lake's surface.

She started with smaller stones, but eventually grabbed what could have been a small boulder and prepared to lob it into the water.

"Careful."

Gwen dropped the rock and very nearly crushed her foot. Whirling around, she reached for her pin and pressed down on its surface. Once she felt the weight of a weapon in her hand, she took a step closer to the voice.

"Well, that's not necessary."

Gwen heaved a deep sigh. "Shut up."

Phaedra grinned as she made her way along the shore. She had switched out her green shirt for a simple nightgown. It was a plain cream color, but it seemed to catch the light, sort of like the surface of the lake.

"You shouldn't speak to your elders like that," she said. "It's rude."

Gwen scoffed. "You're not my elder. You're a lake."

"I'm thousands of years old," Phaedra shot back. "Two thousand and three hundred or so, actually."

"Or so?"

She nodded and waded knee-deep into the water. "You lose track of time when you're immortal."

"You can't be immortal," Gwen said. "You're not a god."

"I'm immortal as long as this lake doesn't dry up. Unless you decide to hit me with that."

Phaedra motioned to the weapon in Gwen's hand. She flushed, because she really didn't know how to make it turn back into a pin. And as much as she disliked this lady, she didn't want to threaten her, either.

That didn't matter to Phaedra, who took it straight from her hands and gave it a once-over. Gwen had just begun to tell her off when she pushed the bottom of the handle in, and the weapon shrank back to a pin again.

"There," Phaedra said, and held out her palm.

Reluctantly, Gwen took the pin and stuffed it in her pocket. "How did you do that?"

"I was around when it was made," she replied. "Or something like it."

"Right." Gwen kicked at a rock by her foot, sending it into the water.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't do that," Phaedra said, her tone clipped. "Every kid here thinks it's fun to throw rocks into the lake. Well, how would you all like it if rocks started falling from the sky?"

"It's just a rock," Gwen muttered. "You're as bad as Mr. D."

Silence. She got the feeling that that comment was also not appreciated.

Very carefully, she looked in Phaedra's direction. Even in the dim moonlight, Gwen could see the two pink splotches on her pale cheeks. She didn't say anything for a while, which Gwen took as Phaedra trying not to immediately cuss her out.

But she never said anything. With one last glare at Gwen, Phaedra dove back into the lake, and that was that.

A conch shell blew in the distance, and Gwen had to jog over to the cabins before anyone saw her at the lake. She fell into step with the Hermes kids, actively avoiding looking Cleo's way.

Two guys jostled her as they raced for their bunks, and she had to resist the urge to push one of them in retaliation. Instead, she returned to her bare patch of hardwood floor and began digging through her duffel bag.

Luckily, she hadn't been pickpocketed yet. She gave the Hermes boys another glance, and then she recognized them as the boys who had been whacking each other with life jackets that afternoon.

"Those are the Stolls," Cleo said. She sat upright in her sleeping bag, tying her curly hair back. "Travis is older. Connor is the shorter one."

Gwen felt a pang of guilt. She hadn't talked to Cleo since knockout, much less apologized, but Cleo still wanted to help her out, even with something as simple as matching names to faces.

"Sorry about being a jerk earlier."

Cleo shook her head. "Don't worry. It's normal to be a little stressed about getting claimed."

"So... The Stolls?" Gwen grinned. "Perfect name for some Hermes kids."

"You know, I don't think they've put that together."

They giggled a little over the irony of the Stolls' last name, and Cleo went into a long story about the prank that those two pulled last summer. They had been the new kids, but that didn't stop them from making enemies out of the entire Demeter cabin. Apparently, Hermes had approved of their practical jokes, because he claimed them that day.

She had just begun another story about the Stolls when Luke called out to her. "Are you gossiping over there, Hanover?"

Grinning, Cleo shrugged. "Am I?"

He broke into a smile and turned back to his bunk. When Cleo finally tore her eyes away, Gwen pretended to gag. She shut up after that.

Gwen practically passed out the second that she laid down to go to bed. Even though she couldn't wait to get up and see what the next day's activities had in store for her, she was exhausted.

She probably shouldn't have been that excited, because the next day she ended up getting pounded into the dirt.