Entrance to the Camp

The Entrance to the Camp. Two guards will always be there to welcome new people.

Michael hitched his rucksack higher on his back, trying to not glance over his shoulder too much. He had no idea where he was going, and he was fairly sure he was being followed. He had an imperial gold sword belted to his waist, something that had been hung on his wall for as long as he could remember, but monsters seemed scared of it when he brandished it, so he'd taken it with him, and he was using his staff as a walking stick, having hitched and hiked from home. Gods, he was going to die, here, alone, ambushed by monsters. Ah, screw it. "Hello?" he yelled.

"No need to yell, short stuff. I'm right here." Callie said playfully from where she stood, leaning against the entrance to the tunnel. "And why do you look like your about to piss yourself? You're safe here." She grinned. "The big bad monsters can't get you in here."

Michael started, turning around and waving his staff vaguely in her direction, then tried to recover and lean on it casually. "Hi," he replied awkwardly, clearing his throat. "I, uh, thought something was following."

Callie chuckled and shook her head. "No one can get in the tunnel except for us. The tunnel is well hidden and you'd have to be an idiot to give the monsters directions. So just relax and stop waving your twig at me." she said, smirking. "Who's your godly parent?"

Michael glared at her for a minute, before he shifted. "Apollo. I'm Michael." He cautiously held out a hand for her to shake, as if he was afraid she'd chop it off.

She took his hand and gave it a firm shake. "'Mars. I'm Callie, one of the Praetors here." she said with a smile. "So, how did you end up here?"

"I, uh. Kind of always knew about my dad. Don't know when I was told. But the monsters started coming after me, so I left my family behind. I hitched over here, walked the rest. Apparently it's safe here," Michael shrugged, running a hand through his hair. "Praetor? As in the political position in Ancient Rome? I mean, I know the gods are real, but this is a bit of a push, surely? Where is 'here'?"

Callie nodded along with his story and slipped her hands in her pockets. "We run camp like the Roman Empire to create order." she said. "Camp Jupiter that is. You're at a place where Roman demigods can live peacefully. The best part is, wen you're finished at camp, you don't have to leave. New Rome is almost like the outside world. We have everything we need here. Everything we will ever need here."

"Roman demigods..." Michael mused quietly. "There are other types of demigods? There are other gods?" he queried, leaning on his staff again, pushing his sword out of the way with a glare as the scabbard pushed at his leg.

"Wow. Okay. Basics then. You obviously know what demigods are. So far, I've only come across us, the Roman demigods and the Greek demigods. Apparently there's this huge feud going between us but whatever." Callie explained. "There's about twenty, that's an estimate, Roman gods. All have counterparts to the Greek gods. Well most do." Callie pushed her hair out of her face and smiled. "You'll figure it out as we go along."

Michael nodded slowly, glancing back over his shoulder, thinking he heard voices. "You sure no monsters can get in here?" He checked, slowly backing towards Callie as two voices came closer, speaking in a peculiar language.
"Ko te ururua o te wā tenei, he aha kei te mahi tatou i tenei?"
"No te mea te reira te kōwhiringa anake to tatou, Aruhe!"

Callie heard the voices and stood up straight, pushing Michael behind her. She listened for a moment, and then relaxed. "It's just more campers." she said. "Hey!" She peered into the tunnel. "Who's in there?"

Michael gladly stepped behind Callie, easily dwarfed by her despite the single year between them.
Two demigods stepped forwards out of the shadows, a girl and a boy, both with light brown skin and dark hair. "Is this Camp?" the boy demanded, stepping forwards to face Callie. His accent swamped even those few words with thick, Australasian accent.

"No this is a tunnel." Callie sassed. "Camp's that way." She pointed with her right hand in a southeast direction. "Who's your godly parent?" she asked.

"I don't have time for your American jokes," the boy huffed, brushing off his sister as she placed a hand on his arm. "Neptune," she replied, softer, pulling her twin back. "Apparently."

Callie rolled her eyes at the guy. "Lighten up. You're going to have to get used to jokes. It's the only entertainment around here." she said to him before looking at what she presumed to be his sister with a polite smile. "Mars for me. Apollo for squirt over here." She gestured at Michael.

"Hey! I'm not a squirt!" Michael protested, shrinking back as the boy turned his gaze on him. "I just have... yet to have a growth spurt, that's all."
The girl gently admonished her brother. "Tākaro i kiri, Kauri."

Callie watched them interest. "What language is that?" she asked.

The girl turned back to Callie. "It is Māori. The language of our people. This is my brother, Kauri. I am Aruhe. Kia ora," she smiled gently, ignoring her brother's sigh.

Callie smiled. "It's a beautiful language." she said. "I'm Callie. This is Michael. I'm one of Praetors here."

Aruhe smiled. "Thank you. I am sorry if we seem abrupt, we are still adjusting."

"It's fine. People usually react a in one extreme or the other. Unless you're Shorty who kinda just stumbled into this place." Callie said teasingly.

"Rude," Michael retorted, poking her with the end of his staff.
Aruhe raised an eyebrow. "I thought his name was Michael?"

Callie grabbed the stick and held it firmly. "It is. I'm just calling him Shorty. It's a nickname." she said.