"Andrew, where did you go?" Lydia called, looking for her older brother. "I can't believe he ran off-again. Lydia mumbled.
"Hey mom, have you seen Andrew?" She asked Annabeth, her mom.
"No, sorry. Go ask your father." Annabeth said.
As Lydia was trying to find Percy, her father, she ran into Melody.
"Oww!" Melody said, rubbing her head.
"Oh, hey Lyd. What's going on? Oh, hi Mrs. Jackson." She said, waving to her friend's mom and Melody's trainer.
"Hi Melody." Annabeth said.
"You seem in a hurry." Melody said.
"Yeah, I got to find Andrew. He's going to be in big trouble if I can't. What happened to your head?" Lydia asked.
"Oh, he's in the archery arena! He was-"
Melody looked at Annabeth, who walked out to help people train.
"He was helping me with a sword and I get to teach him archery!" Melody exclaimed.
"Oh." Lydia said, a little annoyed that her best friend had a crush on her brother. She thought that was just weird.
"But what happened to your head?" Lydia asked.
"Your brother sure is good! Not saying that you're bad! We just collided, Lyd. C'mon, let's go get him." Melody said, scurrying off in embarrassment.
"Fine, whatever." Lydia said as she followed Melody.
"Make sure to stay on your feet, you never know when your opponent will strike." Andrew said, helping Skylar.
He turned around to see Lydia and Melody walking towards him.
"Practice the move I just showed you, Sky. I'll be back in a sec." Andrew said, turning to face Lydia.
"What's up little sis? Hey Melody." He said.
"I'm kind of in a pickle. Maybe we can talk about this somewhere else?" Lydia said.
"Like where?" Andrew asked.
"Definitely not here!" Lydia said, grabbing Andrew's arm and dragging him away.
"Sky, I'll be back soon, I promise!" Andrew yelled to Sky.
"Okay, I'll be here!" Sky shouted.
Melody watched Lydia and Andrew go "talk." She eyed Sky. She didn't like the way Andrew looked at her.
"Hey." Melody mumbled.
Sky mumbled something back.
"So we won't be the best of friends." Melody thought.
Sky looked at Melody.
"Terrible style sense." Sky thought.
Sky wondered how long it would take Andrew to get back. Melody picked up an arrow and ended up shooting bulls-eyes and hopefully making Sky jealous. Aphrodite kids weren't known for their battle moves or skills. Melody was glad Apollo was her dad.
"Andrew, I need some help. You see-" Lydia got cut off.
"Lydia, I was in the middle of training! I can't always stop to help you; you need to learn to stand up for yourself!" Andrew said.
"Drew, this is bigger than that." Lydia said. Andrew got serious.
"How serious?" He asked.
"Well, I might've kind of sort of accidentally gotten a quest that wasn't meant for me…it was meant for you…" Lydia said.
"What?!" Andrew yelled.
Sky turned to look, but Andrew just waved, turning back to Lydia.
"How?!" He asked.
"I don't know. I just got word that I had gotten a quest, but when I got there they told me it was for you, so I left, but then somehow I got it." Lydia said.
"Do you have any idea how long I've waited for a quest? How long I've trained?" Andrew yelled.
"Look, I'm super sorry." Lydia said.
Andrew just shook his head and walked away, back to Sky.
"Now, where were we?" He asked
Melody turned from her shooting to see Andrew helping Sky.
"He's supposed to be training me, not Sky!" Melody thought.
She stomped off. Lydia walked away too. She was mad at Andrew for not understanding that this was all an accident. She went to the water. Percy, her dad, had a love for water, and Lydia had inherited that love, being the grandchild of Poseidon. She was twirling her finger in the water, and saw someone in the reflection, turning around to see Melody.
"She makes me so mad!" Melody stomped the boardwalk.
She had seen jack a little while earlier, and kids of Ares aren't much helpful in this type of situation. Melody was sure her face was red.
"Who?" Lydia asked.
"Sky! Stupid Aphrodite kids and their stupid charm whatevers!" Melody threw her hands up in frustration.
"You mean their charm speak? Yeah, I don't think Sky has that." Lydia said.
"Then-then-how? Ugh! It's no use! I'm going to lose-" Melody stopped herself, fast, to see Lydia looking up at her with an expression of either confusion, humor, or anger.
"Uh-oh." Melody though.
"Why do you care so much? You're two years younger than him!" Lydia yelled.
She got up and walked away, not waiting for an answer. She needed to find Jack.
Jack threw his spear and hit the dummy right in the heart. He laughed how Melody got so worked up over Sky and Andrew. You didn't see Ares kids getting like that. He yanked the spear out and turned to hear Lydia calling him.
"Hey Jack, nice throw." Lydia said.
Jack smoothed down his hair. He didn't like her or anything like that, but he figured, you want to be the best, you have to look the best.
"I know." He said, jokingly, but Lydia didn't crack a smile. He knew her well enough by now, considering they had been at camp together for around a year and a half.
"Okay. What is it?" He asked.
Lydia sat on the grass.
"Well, I accidentally got a quest. It was meant for Andrew. He's training Sky and Melody's jealous. Andrew's mad at me. And honestly, I don't want to go on a quest." She said, covering her face with her hands.
"Wow." Jack thought.
He was going to laugh, but he had never seen Lydia like this. She always seemed so strong and brave and ready to tackle anything.
"Wait, I don't like her." Jack reminded himself.
"It's okay. Melody is just…and Andrew won't be mad forever! Just…" He tried to think of something to say, but he wasn't known for his sensitivity.
Lydia looked at Jack. Was it just her, or did he seem a little nervous?
"Thanks." She said. "So, anyway, I get to pick two people to go on the quest with me, would you like to come?" She asked.
"Really?" Jack said, surprised. Did she look hurt?
"Not like that, it's just that I thought you'd take Andrew to make it up to him, or Melody." He said.
"Well, like I said, Andrew's mad at me, and I need two people, so I was going to take Melody anyway. So you don't want to go?" Lydia asked, trying to hide her disappointment.
"I'll come." Jack said, smiling.
Did she look excited? Jack didn't know. He got up and shifted his spear in his hand.
"Just make sure Andrew doesn't come looking for me when he hears." He winked and Lydia smiled and left.
"Did I just wink?" Jack asked himself.
"Lydia, wait." He caught up to her. "What's the quest?"
"It's-" Lydia stopped herself, remembering what the Oracle had said.
"Just to go get something." She said. "We leave tomorrow. I have to go, bye!" Lydia said, walking away and waving.
"That was weird." Jack thought.
He saw his half-brother and sister looking amused, by the fighting arena. He scowled and drew his spear, and focused on the dummy.
Melody shot another three arrows.
"Lydia doesn't understand this, how could she? Sky's such a jerk!" She thought.
Lydia walked up to Melody just as she shot her last arrow.
"Hey, I was wondering if you'd want to come on a quest with me and Jack." She said.
Melody froze.
"Of course, I-I'd love to come. Aren't you taking Andrew though?" Melody said.
"I'm not. He's mad at me right now, so I thought I would take you and Jack." Lydia said.
"Okay." Melody said, picking up her arrows. "And, Lydia, about this morning, I'm sorry for being dramatic. I was just so mad at Sky!"
"It's okay. So we leave tomorrow. Kind of short notice, sorry. I have to go. Bye!" Lydia said, walking off to find a quiet place.