Arianna Evanesce Castellan
I was waiting patiently on a park bench for mother. She was supposed to be here in about a minute. She had never been late to visit me yet, as she was a firm believer in punctuality. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a bright flash. I quickly averted my eyes as she appeared. "Ari, I'm here." She said, smiling as she gave me a hug.
"Mother," I said sternly "My name is Arianna." Nemesis rolled her eyes. "Ari, I'm your mother. You are my daughter. These days nobody calls a child by full first name." She had a point there. Naomi, my nanny who took care of me, was this daughter of Thanatos who always spoke in a formal British accent. (A/N No offence to any people who speak in a British accent.) She was strict, but she was a nice lady. Being with her too much had rubbed off me.
"Arianna, I think it is time you went to camp." She announced, smiling. I stared at her, surprised. Camp half-blood, the camp for children for the gods, had always been the last place I wanted to go to. I'd much rather live in my apartment being home schooled by Naomi and visited by Mr. Perseus Jackson every week on sword training lessons. Yes, Percy Jackson teaches me sword fighting. His apartment is about three blocks away. He is now seventeen, and I am fourteen. I know that have heard about him because of those infernal Percy Jackson books. Ha, those were so watered down compared to the real adventures. The real life of a half-blood, you ask? Two words: Very bloody.
I made a face. "Mother, why do you wish for me to do so? I prefer living with Naomi in the apartment." She smirked at me. "No, you enjoy getting up at ten-thirty every morning and eating ice-cream and chips in front of the T.V for four hours, playing guitar hero and the Wii for an hour each, and then doing basic English and algebra for about forty-five minutes each." Dang it, why did she have to know everything? I enjoyed doing that. Bye T.V, ice-cream and guitar hero. "Mother, please?" I asked, turning up my puppy-dog look full-blast. She smiled smugly.
"Arianna Evanesce Castellan, you are going to camp. Fourteen years of giving me that look have prepared me for it." I frowned, the puppy-dog look wiped off my face. I needed to practice it some more. Mother seemed to notice the look on my face. "Oh, cheer up, Ari. Besides, you need to get out more. You're so pale." This did not help my mood, as I hated going outside, with all those gross germs. She sighed and ruffled my perfectly groomed golden-brown curls. "Just go to the apartment and pack your clothes, okay? Don't make a fuss."
Resigned, I walked over to the apartment. When I got there, Naomi was waiting for me. "Did she tell you?" She asked her voice cracking. I nodded. She smiled sadly at me, her wrinkled face getting even more crumpled. She wrapped her arms around me. Being a daughter of Thanatos, you'd think she was some strict old hag who had a cane to whack your but sore with. Instead, she was about as emotional as a daughter of the death god could get. She handed me a large brief case. "Take care." She looked ready to burst into tears that moment. She sniffled, wiping her tears on her sleeve. "I- I took care of you for fourteen years. You were like a daughter to me. It's difficult to not get attached." I started to feel the tears coming into my eyes too. I hugged her, and she hugged me back. "I'll miss you terribly." I told her, now the tears were flowing freely down my face. "I will too." She said, squeezing me tighter. "Promise me one thing." She said in between sobs. "What?" I asked. "Promise that you will remember me. Remember me as the old lady who took care of you when you were little, who fed you and cleaned you." "Of course." I said, "How could I ever forget you?" She smiled at that. "Now, off you go." She said, untangling her arms from around me and opening the door. I walked out the door, to find Nemesis in front of me, extending a hand for me to grasp. I took it, and walked with her a little way to a small and silver Mercedes-Benz, which was parked in front of us. I saw that there was a sandy- haired man in the driver's seat. He smiled at me and winked.
"Hey there ladies." He said. "Lord Apollo." I answered curtly while nodding. I'd never met him before, but mother had described him to me. 'Outdoorsy good looks, a teenager physically and at heart, flirtatious, and very, very …what's the word.... ah, yes, impertinent and impudent.' He made a face. "Oh, come on, babe. Don't be like that. After all, I am going to drive you to the camp. And (A/N Apollo is bad at grammar, so don't flame me.) I had to change out of sports-car mode into this junky Mercedes-Benz because-and I quote- 'The Mercedes-Benz is the best car in the world.' Bah, this is nothing." He said, glaring holes at my mother. She sighed. "Apollo, didn't I pay you your seven drachmas already?" He sighed, knowing he was defeated "Fine. Get in the car already." Mom climbed into the back seat. I placed myself next to her, and made myself comfortable. Neither of us wanted to sit next to Apollo. We settled in for an excruciating fifteen minutes of riding in the sun chariot.
"Say something! It's too quiet in this car." Apollo moaned loudly. We were about five minutes into this trip. Man, this guy gets bored easily. He needs a hobby. "I'll say something." My mom said. "Shut up!" she yelled into his ear. "Ow! There wasn't any reason to yell that loud." He said, rubbing his left ear while whining like a kindergartener. I tried really hard to muffle the sound of my laughter; I really did, but was unsuccessful and let out a noisy snort of laughter. Apollo muttered something incoherent and turned back to his steering wheel. I don't think he'll allow us to ride the sun chariot anymore now that we annoyed him. Oh well, like I care. We remained in silence for the next ten minutes.
Mom and I hopped out of the car as soon as Apollo parked it. I walked side-by-side with her as she led me to the big house. It's actually quite big, although it's got nothing on the skyscrapers that I'm used to.
When we entered, a tall centaur greeted us. "Hello lady Nemesis, Arianna." He said, smiling kindly at us. My mom smiled curtly at him. "Greetings, Chiron. Ari, this is Chiron. He is the activities director of camp." I smiled at him shyly. "Aren't you the one who trained Hercules?" I asked, my voice filled with curiosity. "Why yes, yes I am." He said. Mom talked to him for a few minutes while I zoned out.
"…….isn't good." "What isn't good?" I asked suddenly in the middle of their conversation. "Nothing isn't good." My mother said simply. "Come on; let's get you to the mess hall. That's where all the other campers are." She grabbed my hand and we followed Chiron to the mess hall.
Everybody was quiet as we walked in. It's not everyday that a goddess with her child comes to camp. Wait till they find out who my father was.
"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to our new fellow camper. Her name is Arianna Evanesce Castellan." All the campers in the hall started whispering excitedly. They whispered "Castellan? Is she Luke's relative or something?" I tried my best to hide my face in the shadows. Chiron stomped his foot impatiently. Immediately, everyone became quiet. "Her father was Luke Castellan, son of Hermes, and her mother is Lady Nemesis." This time the whispers were more subdued, but they were whispering never the less.
I stepped up. Every camper's eyes were on me. "Um… hi" I blushed. I looked like an idiot. My mom smiled encouragingly at me. "Why don't you tell them about your history?" she suggested. I exhaled with relief. No one could think I was boring if they heard my history.
"I was born on October 20, 2007." They were confused. It was 2010, surly I would only be three. "My father, as you know, was in Kronos's army at that time. Kronos wanted me in his army, and he decided to mark me as the best warrior in the army. He carved a symbol of his power, the scythe, on my forearm." I lifted up my sleeve to show it to them. "This mark not makes me powerful, but allows me to control time." They all gasped.
"However, my mother didn't want me to get involved in the war and so she took me to the Lotus Casino, where she hired Naomi, a daughter of Thanatos, to take care of me. I stayed there until I was thirteen. When I came out, the war had just ended. My mom rented an apartment room for me, and that's where I stayed for a year." I ended my story lamely.
I walked to the Nemesis table, which had no kids sitting in it. My mother left, along with Chiron. They were probably going to talk some more. Everyone was eating, although they gave me an occasional glance, especially the boys. I sighed loudly and got out my MP3 player. The song playing was Sk8er boi, by my fave singer, Avril Lavigne. (A/N It's the first thing that popped into my head, Idk why.)
After dinner, I went straight to the Nemesis cabin. Too bad that on my way there Clarisse La rue, daughter of Ares, caught up to me.
"Where do you think you're going, missy?" She said cockily. "I was under the impression that I was on my way to my cabin." I replied, making my voice clear and loud.
"Clarisse, give it a rest." Said a voice from behind me. A boy walked up. He looked about my age, and had rough brown hair and onyx eyes. Clarisse scoffed at him.
"You don't scare me, ghost boy." He rolled his eyes. Judging from the way this looks, I think a fight's going to break out soon. I decided to end it by freezing the bully in time. My eyes glowed purple and she then she stood there, rock still. I smiled at my handiwork. The boy stared at me.
"What did you do?"He asked. I shrugged. "I can control time, remember? I froze her in time." My eyes glowed purple again and she fell to the ground, gasping. "Wha- what did you do to me?" She stammered. "I just froze you in time." I said simply before I resumed walking to my cabin. I could feel the campers stare at me. I just shrugged it off and walked into my cabin. That'll teach them to mess with me.