After our admittedly brief tour, Annabeth led the two of us into the dining pavilion, where the assorted campers were already standing, hyping each other up.
I took a small break in the tour when she got to the cabins to walk into the Poseidon cabin and change into a pair of jeans and a flannel. Aphrodite came in to see my cabin and didn't exactly leave when I started changing.
Well, not that I made her, of course. If we're doing this thing for real, now, this is the kind of closeness we're going to have, so...
Aphrodite's reaction to the closeness was adorable, though. After we walked out, she didn't stop blushing—a real red blush (to keep up the disguise, I'm guessing)—until we got to the pavilion.
We settled into Athena's cabin table.
"Watch," Annabeth said slowly, drawing our attention to the entrance.
Campers started yelling and cheering as Gordon and two of Annabeth's other siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree.
From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.
Clarisse saw me across the dining hall and grinned, a manic look taking shape on her face. She gestured toward me with her spear, sparks flying off of it. I could faintly hear her roar over the din of the campers, "I'm going to pulverize you, Jackson!"
"Look at that," I grinned, stretching my arms out and rolling my shoulder. "I'm itching for a fight, now."
Aphrodite shook her head, "Didn't you just get out of a fight? I thought you'd take more of a backseat."
"Psh, with you by my side, I'm not too worried about it,"
Smooth, right?
Well, in all honesty, I'm more or less healed up.
The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Apparently, Annabeth wasn't the only one feeling a bit risky—all kinds of privileges had been put up for grabs. Shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities—all in order to win support.
Realistically speaking, I know a simple game of Capture the Flag isn't that deep, but to me, it kind of is. I'm a pretty competitive guy, and the only way I'll take this seriously is if I make it some sort of a training exercise.
That, and I want to see what sort of stuff my wife can pull out in a real battle.
Before that, though, there's something interesting going on with the teams. I'll explain. Well, in a roundabout and preachy sort of way, that is. I wouldn't be me without my lectures!
Ernest Becker, one of those people I'd read up on to boost my [INT] argues that our innate desire and want of heroes in life comes from our desire to transcend death—that we hide things from ourselves to shield our psyche from the slow march of time.
I know, I know, weird and macabre, but let me finish.
I think it's a load of bullshit.
Okay, maybe you can try to argue that people do that. I'm not saying they don't. I've seen people go to great lengths to preserve some sort of image of themselves, just to fall to pieces when that image is shattered over time.
There's a reason there's such a big emphasis on mental health these days. For the vast majority of people, their lives are mundane, calm. The real fight goes on inside of their heads.
That's why, for normal mortals, sure, you can definitely make the argument that Becker hit the nail right on the head. In fact, sure, I'll even give you that one.
I'm not talking about them, though. I'm gearing this towards demigods.
I'd argue that there are very few demigods who fit into this mold of thinking. The reason being, of course, that every demigod has the moment in their life when they fully consider their own morality—the ironic truth of their own existence.
Usually, when you're fighting a monster, you don't have time to worry about all of that. Not to mention, as a demigod, there's no sort of self-preservation or anything like that. You guys heard it straight from Hestia. You saw it with Piper on the banks of the Hudson during the search for the bolt. You heard my thoughts in the carriage ride with Amphitrite—hell, even Hades was spewing about this sort of thing a few hours ago.
We all stare into that abyss at a very young age.
You don't get to choose the life you want. No demigod chooses their parent, their lives. A very lucky few even get to have lives. The rest of us are herded to this camp and told to train to survive.
Where am I going with this?
Don't laugh when I tell you.
Hey! I mean it.
Being a demigod isn't about being better than everyone, or stronger than them. It isn't related to any of that at all.
It's about kindness.
No, not the dumb Disney version, where being nice makes your enemies bend over backward for you.
The real, unfiltered version. The one that's all about giving all of yourself with nothing in return—to look out for the ones in the same position as you.
Society, and to a lesser extent, the entire world of Greek mythology would crumble and burn if demigods ever truly gave in and realized how pointless everything was. If they ever really sat down and realized how dangerous everything was. How scary the world could be...and can you blame them?
Who would willingly want a life like that when you could live a boring, suburban one?
That's why those old-timey heroes like the first Perseus and Jason, and I guess even newer ones like me keep things from spiraling—we embody what it really means to be a demigod. We're like beacons of hope that shine—a sort of pillar of strength.
I haven't done anything too insane yet, but my reasoning is that if a camper, say, Malcolm sees me fight and carry the weight of the world on my shoulders, he'll eventually think that he can too. He'll preserve in the face of that kind of adversity—and until he can, he'll be safe and sound.
That's the best thing I could give him. That's what it's all about. Maybe someday I'll make camp so safe that no one will have to worry about that stuff.
In this world, acts of love and sacrifice, and the relationships they develop instill meaning in our lives. That's why I offered myself up to the gods to keep everyone else safe when I've barely known them for a month or two, why I risked my life to fight a deity a mere week after I learned how to hold a sword.
That's why people like Hestia gave up their power and prestige to save the state of their families.
We look out for each other. That's all we can do.
And that sort of behavior is reminiscent of everything demigods do, no matter how little it may seem like it.
The Ares cabin, for example, is probably the closest thing to bullies that you'll find in camp. They constantly call people names, try to pick fights—Chiron once had to intervene when some guy called Clarisse fat and she threatened to run him through with her spear.
If you look closely, though, their cabin cares just as much about everyone else—they just don't know how to show it.
Just look at this dumb game!
The Ares cabin has allied themselves with everybody who can't fight: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus.
From what I've seen so far, Dionysus's kids are surprisingly good athletes, but there are only two of them, and neither are particularly gifted on the offensive side of things.
Demeter's kids, while many and with the ability to control the field with nature skills and outdoor, just aren't very aggressive. They can't even stand up for themselves, and even worse, they can't defend themselves when the fight comes to them. They'd get hammered in a game like this if it wasn't for the Ares kids.
Aphrodite's sons and daughters are a whole different story. Other cabins bring some sort of advantage to the field, but they're utterly useless in this stuff.
What! I'm just trying to be honest…I've heard that they mostly sit out every activity and check their reflections in the lake. I think Annabeth was the one who told me that last time all they did was do their hair and gossip—I don't know how Aphrodite is going to feel about that one.
Still, though, the Ares cabin takes them in and lets them do that.
Hephaestus' kids aren't pretty, and there are only four of them, and they're big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. You'd think that's why they're with Ares, but the truth of the matter is, no one else wanted them.
The Ares cabin, though, runs through more weapons and armor than anyone, so they're constantly working the Hephaestus kids to the bone with commissions.
How do they repay them?
You guessed it—they welcome them to the team.
Ares cabin, under Clarisse's guidance, takes in all these kids who wouldn't have had a shot in hell at winning and gives them a fighting chance at victory and glory. It's good to see.
"You have that look on your face again," Aphrodite whispered in my ear.
I turned and saw her smile prettily at me. "You're thinking about something."
"Just a little," I returned her smile.