Chapter Text
Sunny had trouble believing what he's been told. How could he not? A summer camp for Greek gods' children? That sounds just like something his brain would make up.
But after getting knocked down so many times during sword training he's forced to attend, you can only deny it so much. After all, the pain everywhere, especially in his tailbone, sure felt real. More real than any sort of physical pain he felt in Headspace.
The Hermes kids happily welcomed him into their cabin. But they also seemed rather annoyed. They reassured him they weren't mad at him, just the gods who were supposed to claim their children.
Sunny didn't know how to tell them he was 99% sure he wasn't a demigod. Ya, his dad walked out on him, and his mother was never home. But, that wasn't because of some gods interfering with his life.. that was because of..
His eyes shot open as he heard the familiar distant giggle of echoing monsters. He was staring at the roof of the Hermes cabin. He often had trouble falling asleep. Despite having myalgic encephalomyelitis, he still finds it very difficult to fall asleep in unfamiliar environments. He wishes he could. He wants to return to my dreams. There, everything is better.
He has seen some of these new people there. Percy is there, is colors of blue and sea-green, gills and fish-like features. Annabeth is also there, colors of silver and purple, with feathery hair, but still that intimidating and stern look in her eyes.
He turns his head to the window, unaware of the time, desperately waiting for sunlight to peak through and shine down on him. It took hours. Painful hours of trying to remain as still as possible, fearful that if he moves, the world will fall through the void and he'll learn that this camp isn't real, just a figment of his imagination and he'll find he's still in that hospital, crouched in a fetal position as he desperately tried to escape reality.
Eventually, the sun shone through. He could hear kids already getting up outside. He had come to learn that these are the 'Apollo kids.' They were always up early.
Eventually, the other Hermes kids began to get up, stretch out their limbs, get out of bed, and change. Sunny didn't move. He didn't know why he didn't move. He had desperately been waiting to be able to. To get up and leave this awful, claustrophobic, unfamiliar room. But now that everyone was up and lively, he couldn't. He just couldn't.
He his eyelids closed, but he heard someone approaching his bed and suddenly he was being shaken. "Cmon, Sunshine!"
He recognized the voice as Conner Stoll. He was very loud..
Sunny jumped at the feeling and yelling, clambering out of bed and falling over, which really hurt.
"Cmon, don't pick on the poor kid," said one of the kids, giving Sunny a pitying smile, which made his face flush from embarrassment.
Sunny stood up slowly, his back aching. He often ached. But he didn't like to tell anyone about it.
"Today we're doing archery! We're gonna show those Apollo kids who's boss!" Conner yells out, getting everyone hyped up. But Sunny wasn't. He hated all of the physical activities. They were always painful. But he had trouble telling anyone about his chronic pain. It might just be a bother..
Sunny changed into the hideous traffic cone colored camp shirt and stepped outside with the other, flinching at the sunlight like he always did.
He saw Chiron (who was a centaur, which was extremely unexpected, but after about a week of being here, he had gotten used to it... somewhat) in the distance, seeming to scold a group of kids. He then lifted his gaze and spotted Sunny, causing him to shrink a little. He was pretty sure Chiron also knew he probably wasn't a demigod, meaning he wasn't meant to be here.
They all went to the dining area, and in front of Sunny, the same food he always ate summoned. A large steak. He didn't care if it was the morning. It was still good.
"Another steak, Sunny? Lavish eating, are you?" said one Hermes kid with was a goodnatured laugh, but just made him feel even more embarrassed.
They all ate their food really fast. Well, the Hermes kids did, which made Sunny feel like he did too to keep up with them, and they all rushed to the archery field. He didn't like the archery area. He was always scared he'd get stabbed by an arrow. He was always scared, though, of any worst possible circumstance.
The Apollo kids began to approach, the Hermes kids yelling out jovial trash talk. Friendly rivalries. There seemed to be a lot of those here.
They all went one by one, shooting arrows at the targets. Apollo kids were in the lead. Sunny, with his knowledge on Greek Mythology because Mari had taken a very big interest in it a few years back, knew this wouldn't be a surprise. Apollo was an archer.
Eventually, it was his turn. He froze. His hand was shaking like crazy as he tried to lift the bow and pull back the arrow. But it hurt so much. The Apollo kid next to him gave him a concerned look.
"Are you ok?" he asked. "You seem to be in pain."
Sunny tightly closed his eyes, trying so hard to pull the arrow back, but he just.. couldn't.
"Sunny," he heard one of his cabinmates say from behind him. "Are you ok?"
But the voices sounded so distant. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his lower back and found himself dropping the bow and then, the earth was getting close to his face. He didn't feel himself hit the earth, though, before he blacked out.