A/N: Set years before the PJO series.

Kara Blackton let out a deep sigh. Another day, another grey, boring, miserable, stupid day.

"Kara?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Warden?" She snapped.

Her mother flinched. "Kara, just because I won't let you go to that party…" She sighed. "I have my reasons for these things."

"Oh?" Kara whirled to face mother. "And what reason might that be, hmm? A meteor might crush me? A giant hole might open up in front of me?" Her eyes blazed with fury. "When are you going to stop treating me like a child?"

Her mother didn't reply. She simply walked back into the house, leaving Kara to stare out at the sunset once more.

Kara sat down again, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her chin on her knees. This whole town was so miserable. Every town on the planet was better than this place; they had to be. Because if they weren't, then Earth had no hope.

She sighed, leaning against the wall and allowing her legs to stretch. Her eyes darted around, flickering back and forth as she took in the sunset. She could never keep still; she just didn't like it.

She shivered as the light began to fade. She hated going inside, so she flicked on the porch light, not wanting to be in utter darkness. The dark just didn't feel right.

She let out a deep, long, horrible sigh. This world really sucked sometimes, and that was no lie. After the 'Laptop Incident' of last year, her mother had been on her case.

She was only in the seventh grade! She shouldn't be getting into all this trouble!

So why was she?

"That's her?"

"That's her."

James swallowed. "But… she's in my class!"

"She's one of us, just grab her and let's get out of here!" Derek rolled his eyes. "Or do you really want to be monster chow?"

James sighed and rolled his eyes. "All right, all right, I'm going."

He jumped over the fence with ease. "Kara Blackton?" he asked.

She glared at him. "James? What are you doing in my backyard?"

At that point, Kara's mother came outside. She paled as she saw James. "Already?"

James nodded. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Blackton. Kara has no more time."

Her mother nodded. "Go, Kara." She whispered softly. She gently kissed her daughter's forehead.

Kara pulled away. "What's this about?"

"No time." James' older brother, Derek, came over the fence. "We'll explain when we get there."

James took Kara's hand and pulled her away from her backyard.

Kara didn't know that this would be the last time she saw her mother in a long time. She didn't know what was in store for her once she entered the car that James and Derek all but shoved her into.

She never knew.

"What is this place?"

"Camp Half-Blood." Derek replied to Kara's question. "A place for all young demigods to learn how to fight." He grinned wildly. "And, believe me, we need it."

"You're going to be staying in Apollo's cabin." James said. "With the others."

"Woah, woah, woah. Back up. Apollo? Like the Greek god Apollo?"

James rolled his eyes. "Yes, Kara. Like the Greek god Apollo. You're a demigod, half human half god."

"No." Kara was unsure what else to say. "You're insane."

"They're not."

Kara whirled around to see a young man standing in front of her. He smiled. "Hello, Kara."

James and Derek paled.

The man turned to them. "Go on. She'll be inside in a minute."

They nodded and raced inside.

Once they were gone, an almost-teenager-like grin crossed his face. "I love scaring kids like that. They're so gullible. What do they think I'm going to do? Roast them?"

Kara's eyes narrowed. "And who are you?" She demanded.

He shrugged. "Your dad, of course. Apollo."

She rolled her eyes. "You are not Apollo."

He smiled. "Have it your way then. I'm not-Apollo. What about you?" He extended a hand.

She took it. "Kara."

He grinned. "Nice to meet you again, Kara."

She sighed. "You really think you're Apollo, don't you?"

"I know it." He sat down on the ground. "But you don't believe in that, do you?"

She shook her head and sat next to him. Despite what he'd said, despite the insanity of it all, Kara liked him. He was just… friendly. "Of course not. Hope you don't mind."

He shook his head. "Nah. Just don't say you don't believe in Zeus." He shivered, his eyes searching the sky.

She smiled softly.

His eyes whipped to her face. "Was that a smile?"

She instantly glared at him. "No."

He grinned. "It was!"

"No!"

"Yes!" he was suddenly smiling wildly, laughing like a madman.

Her eyes narrowed, and her hand shot out, landing squarely on his nose.

The man all but fell backwards. His hand went to his nose, a look of absolute shock on his face.

She glared at him.

He stared at her, dumbfounded. "You punched me."

"Acute observation." She remarked harshly.

"But… but you punched me."

"Really? Because I wouldn't have known that without you telling me."

For a long time, there was silence. Finally, the shock wore away from the man's face, and he shook his head. "I guess I deserved that."

"You guess?" She demanded. What did it take to make this guy angry?

"Yeah."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, I guess you're forgiven."

He grinned. "Thanks, kid."

"Not a kid."

"Of course you are."

"You're one to talk."

"Hey, I'm a lot older than you."

"Want another punch in the face? Cuz that's where you're headed."

"Sorry."

Kara looked at him. "If you're really Apollo, prove it."

He raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"I don't care."

He sighed, plucking a few blades of grass off the ground, trapping them in a cage of his fingers. "Close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

She sighed and obeyed.

She could feel the flash of heat and light across her face. When she opened her eyes again, 'Apollo' opened his fingers, allowing the small amount of ash to sift through them. "Convinced?"

"No."

"So, I just pissed off some nature god for no reason?"

"Apparently."

"Just my luck." He rolled his eyes. "My kid doesn't even believe in me. Fantastic."

"You drive a sun chariot, for crying out loud!" She snorted. "If you're really Apollo, you could do a whole lot better than that."

He sighed. "Not at night, which is now if you hadn't noticed."

Kara sighed. She knew it was night. The darkness was like an oppressive force.

And then she realized.

"You're glowing."

'Apollo' grinned. "Yeah. Have been for the past ten minutes."

"But… glowing?" It explained why she didn't need a flashlight. It also explained why the darkness wasn't driving her crazy. She wondered why she hadn't noticed it before.

"Yes, Kara. Convinced now?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Are you sure you don't just hang around too many radioactive power plants?"

He laughed. "Good one. But no, I don't."

"Glowing…" She shook her head. "This is too weird."

He smiled. "You get used to it."

She sighed. "So. Apollo, eh?"

He grinned. "Yep."

"And you're my dad?"

He nodded.

"Crap."

He frowned. "Am I that bad a guy?"

She shook her head, coming closer to him as he placed an arm on her shoulder. "No, no. I'd just better not become the human flashlight, or I'm gonna have to punch something."

He laughed. "Not my nose again, I hope."

"It's not outside the realm of possibility."

He looked at her, confused.

She grinned. "Maybe." She translated.

He clamped his hand over his nose. "Let's make that a 'no', shall we?"

She laughed. "All right, all right. Not your nose."

He breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his hand.