I Wouldn't Call You Special
I am ordinary. Well, as ordinary as a demigod can be. Just another ten year old demigod who doesn't expect to ever know her parent.
I knew that Chiron was waiting for someone special. A child of the big three. And that child had been found. She was coming to camp.
I wasn't particularly excited to have another person more important than me.
Then that day I woke up to find a new boy and girl in the Hermes cabin.
"Who are the newbies?" I yelled to the cabin.
"I'm Luke," The boy said. "And this is Annabeth."
"Regular or unclaimed?" I asked.
"I'm a Son of Hermes." He said. "She's unclaimed."
"Don't expect that to change."
"Excuse me?" Luke questioned and the little girl hugged him.
"Hey, I'm sure you're both very amazing, but the gods don't care about us. If she isn't claimed in a week, don't expect it to ever happen."
"Why?" He asked.
"You're probably both many things, but I wouldn't call you special."
I found out later that they had come with a Daughter of Zeus, but she had died protecting them. The death had turned her into a tree which would protect our borders.
Later that very night, at campfire, I watched as the little girl, Annabeth was claimed.
"Hail Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena, Goddess of Wisdom." Chiron called.
It just wasn't fair! I had come to camp when I was eight and I still wasn't claimed!
I didn't stay for the rest of campfire. I was in a horrible mood.
My father hadn't claimed me after four years, yet Athena claims this little girl after less than a day.
Why couldn't my father claim me?
I thought about my life, searching it for clues, but there were none. I had lived with my average mother in my average house in an average town in New Jersey. At age eight, I was found by a satyr who took me to camp.
Maybe I really was a Daughter of Hermes. Nothing more than an average girl.
The boy named Luke walked into the cabin.
"Hey," He said.
"Whatever," I said.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Mallory," I said.
"Are you a Daughter of Hermes, Mallory?"
"No," I said. "Not that I know of."
"So why are you in here?"
"Because I'm unclaimed. Because whoever my stupid father is, he doesn't care." I said. "The only way to be special around here is to be claimed or have gone on a quest. I'm neither of those things."
"Do you know what?" he said. "I'm going to change that. It's stupid to be stuck in here and waste away."
"You're an idiot." I said. "You aren't going to change anything. You aren't special."
How wrong I was that night.
Two years later, Luke is a different person.
I'm twelve and still unclaimed.
"The councilor is so stupid," Luke said one night. "I could do a better job."
We had just gotten a new councilor after the old one left for college. The new guy was the oldest, but had only started camp three months ago.
"Then do it," I said. "You have more years than this guy, so you can challenge him for it."
"But this guy is one of the best with a sword." He said.
"Then we've got some training to do."
For the next two weeks, I have Luke practice fighting strikes with a sword.
"You're great at this," I said honestly.
I showed him a disarming technique.
"This is difficult," I said. "Most swordsman take years to master it."
The sword clattered out of Luke's hand.
"Now try," I said.
We fought. His blade hit my hilt and I felt the sword fall out of my hand.
"You're ready," I said picking up my sword. "Tomorrow you challenge Josh."
The next day, I watched him walk up to the councilor.
"That's it," He said to him. "I'm done with you bossing me around."
"Is that a challenge?" Josh asked.
"Yes," Luke said. "Unless you want to give up."
"Swords," Josh smiled.
The two grabbed their swords and the entire cabin watched as they fought. Josh was clearly the better fighter.
Luke was about to lose, but then he smiled. I watched as he used my disarming technique. Josh dropped his sword.
"I win."
One year later, I'm a different person.
I'm still living in the Hermes cabin. I'm a thirteen year old unclaimed demigod.
"Mallory," Luke walked into the Hermes cabin. "This is so stupid."
"What?" I asked. "What happened?"
"I got a quest," he said. "I should be excited. Excited to do something that someone's already done."
"What do you have to do?"
"Retrieve a golden apple from the Garden of the Hesperides." He said angrily. "Annabeth thought it was amazing, but where's the glory in repeating what others have done?"
"Annabeth's only ten," I said. "She doesn't understand yet."
"You understood at age ten."
"I wasn't claimed."
"Mallory…"
"When are you leaving?" I asked.
"Today."
"Good luck, Luke."
That night at campfire, Annabeth came to talk to me.
"Luke is going to do awesome, right?" She said to me.
What do you say to a little girl for a question like that?
"Yeah," I said, "just wait and see."
Luke didn't do awesome, though. He came back with a scar on his face and anger in his head.
"It isn't fair!" Luke yelled.
"Yeah, totally," I said suddenly angry. "It isn't fair that you know who your father is. It really isn't fair that you got a quest. Completely unfair."
"Just you wait and see," He said. "Pretty soon, I'll be out of this dump and doing things that actually matter."
"You're many things, Luke Castellan, but I wouldn't call you special."
(A/N I swear this was supposed to be about Percy, but anyway… Review and tell me what you thought.)