Author's Note: if you have trouble with homosexual and bisexual things. Please, leave. Now. If you do not have the slightest problem with it, please continue. While there will be nothing of that manner for a very long time, there will be some eventually, and it would be bad if you got hooked on the stories and then had to stop because it offends your personal beliefs.
Also, I don't own Percy Jackson.
Words that were mentioned when people described Evelyn Young were not out of the usual. Friends described her as cheerful, open minded, shy, yet quick tempered. Those who did not like her would describe her as annoying, too smart for her own good, and in some very rare cases, hot. She would say she was plain. There was a time when even her best friends described her as cunning, cold, aloof, and sadistic. But that was years after this story started.
Our story actually started one scorching hot day in San Fransisco, when a little girl with short, very dirty, very black hair caught the attention of a passing stranger. She had dark eyes that seemed to be aware of to many things. She was wandering the street like she owned the place because in many ways she did. Not that her father owned all the restaurants on the busy street, or that her older sibling was at the head of one of the many gangs, no she belonged to the street and it to her. Every shopkeeper knew her by sight, and some by name, they asked what she would change about their boutique or toy store or mini market. Other than price, she had some good suggestions, so slowly the street started to reflect the little homeless girl who spent her days wandering the streets.
Even though she had been offered a place to stay in many shops, and even been offered to be adopted into a family or two, she did not stay with any adult. Every time she was asked, she shook her head no, saying that "My mommy will be coming soon, I don't want to miss her." So, she kept herself as healthy as a five year old could. And that is what intrigued a tall surfer looking dude who's favorite coffeeshop just happen to reside on her street.
He had gone there as long as the shopkeeper, a fifty year old woman by the name of Jenna, could remember, but had never changed. It didn't bother her, he was there every day at exactly six fifty two everyday to buy a double non-fat latte and a small block of her homemade peanut butter and chocolate fudge. So when she handed him his coffee, she was rather surprised when he asked about the little girl.
"Ah, so you have finally noticed our little street flower. Yes, that's Evelyn. Sweet, sweet girl but very stubborn. Don't get me wrong sir, but she won't be easy to talk to." He flashed a smile at the older woman, it was the kind of smile that melted girls and even some guys hearts.
"Thanks Jen. See ya tomorrow." with that, the nameless man left her to close her family's old coffeeshop. He took a swig of his coffee and headed to the place where he had noticed the girl always seemed to go just before dark. She was there, playing with some very faded pick-up sticks, humming a tune to herself. He blinked at her, he had never considered himself a pedofile, but she was a very pretty girl somewhere under all that filth. "Hello, what are doing?"
Her humming stopped, she glanced up at him her hand slipping as she removed a stick. "Playing pick-up sticks."
"Aren't you a bit too young to be out so late." he asked. He had light blue eyes, the color of the sky, his sandy blonde hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail at the nape of his neck, and he was wearing a loose white t-shirt.
"Aren't you a bit to... to... strangerly?"
"Of a stranger?"
She thought for a second before saying "Uh... yeah. Aren't you a bit of a stranger to be asking?" she cocked her head to the left, raising one brow in a way that made her seem much older than she was.
"Yeah. And your point is?" she shrugged, she had no point. He seemed to have lost her interest, she went back to playing her game, squinting in concentration. "Don't you have a family to go to?" She faltered in her removal of the once bright pink stick.
"No." she stated. "Not with me at the moment. My mommy is coming for me, told me to meet her here. Only some woman with a snake for legs came. She was... scary. So I gotta wait." She flashed him a smile and went back to her sticks.
"A woman with a snake for legs, huh?" he crouched down next to her.
"Yup." she snatched a seemingly white pickup stick from the bottom of the pile, her hand almost a blur and none of the sticks disturbed.
"So how did you get her away from her, this snake lady?"
"I screamed at her."
"And?"
"And she went poof." she gestured vaguely before grabbing another stick.
"Oh." he blinked again. He had only met three other people who had been able to do what she had described. "Hey you hungry?"
"Yeah, but I'm fine." she pulled out two more sticks.
"Here." he reached into the bag he had just gotten from the coffeeshop, breaking off some of the fudge and handing it to her. She looked at it, taking an experimental nibble out of it. She smiled and swallowed, taking a bigger bite.
"Thanks." she said. "I've got to go now. Looks like the sun is going to set and I have to get home before someone else takes my spot."
"Hey, why don't you just come with me. I've got an apartment and a sofa you could sleep on." truth was he didn't, but his home was a bit hard to explain, even to a five year old.
"Na, my mommy is going to come any day now!" She grabbed up her sticks and, with a wave, headed down the street. It would be two days until he saw the girl again and when he did, Apollo, God of Music, would be in for a big surprise.
It would be about fifteen minutes until sunset if he kept up this sluggish pace, he had flirted with some very curvy girls on his way to the coffeeshop and would miss it being open. After getting their numbers, he bid the girls fair-well with a wink of his eye, he started jogging to the shop. He opened the door, to see the little girl and Jenna surrounded by some monstrous looking men. One of them, the ring leader, was cleaning his nails with a pocket knife. He shoved his hand into his pocket grasping a sword hilt that that not been there a moment before. The man was sneering, "Just give us the money and the girl and we'll be on our way."
The leader glanced down at Evelyn and quickly looked up as he was fixed with the worst glare a five year old could muster. "I'm not going with you, Jenny you can't let me go!" she looked up at Jenna with a plea. In response, the woman tightened her grip around the girl.
"Oh, I hate when negotiations go sour." he said with an expression that he liked nothing better. He stopped cleaning his nails and took a step closer to them, adjusting his grip on his knife. Evelyn glared at him again and, with a muttering of profanity that she should not even know at her age, spat at his feet. The wad of spit landed him clean on the boot and it hissed like acid, eating through his boot. He howled in pain, taking a step away from her, the surfer dude took that as his cue.
He jumped over the man's head and deflected the knife that had been flung at the girl. He still didn't entirely understand why this man wanted the seemingly harmless girl, though her spit gave him a hint. He didn't have any time to ponder because the five men's faces melted to show hollowed features and foaming mouths. He sighed, he did prefer long range, but a bow and arrow would not be the logical choice of weapon on. In a matter of minutes all of the dog-faced men had been dispelled in puffs of yellow smoke.
He turned to face the two others in the room. Jenna was pale, her hand clamped over her mouth in horror. He let go of the sword, letting it fall, though it was gone before it hit the ground. Evelyn was eye him inquisitively, "Who are you?" she said breaking the gaping silence that covered the room.
Everything eventually worked out in the wash, Apollo had manipulated Jenna's mind to make her forget what had happened and all about him (though she would always wait for a customer that never did come for years). And several hours later Evelyn found herself flying miles above the world. She had been pressed to the window for the first fifteen minutes, but then she had remember that the strange man owed her an explanation. She pestered him, though all she got was that she would be told soon as soon as they arrived at some camp or another. So she fell asleep. Apollo smiled when he realized that she was asleep, slipping a CD into a player and proceeded to listen to jazz as she slept. That was how Evelyn Young arrived at Camp Half Blood.
Settling at camp was hard for her, but soon summer passed to winter and winter into summer and so on and so forth. She would've remained contented in her own little world that all children had for years, but it was when she turned seven that things started to change. It was a few days before the first day of camp, all the year rounders, the giant number of three kids not including herself, were getting ready for when they would be surrounded by their siblings.
She had changed greatly over the two years, not only in attitude but looks. She had grown at least six inches and her hair was now a shinier shade of black, some natural brown highlights were peaking in here and there. Though she spent most of the time outdoors, she was still dead pale. She was a lot more open and trusting, not having to live on the streets of a city that, as she had found out with in a few minutes of being at camp, was the most monster packed city of America. But even though she smiled and said she was fine, she was lonely. Extremely lonely.
Evelyn had been claimed as a daughter of Demeter and was quite happy there. Though she was the only Demeter child who stayed year round, her winters were not spent alone. She spent a lot of time in the stables, petting the various animals there, mostly the horses. Also Chiron, the activities coordinator/trainer/centaur for the camp, would talk to her occasionally. None of the older kids paid much attention to her, only making sure she went to bed at the right time.
It was exactly four minutes after one when she heard the cry of a satyr that had been off doing whatever they did. The satyrs were not due until a week after camp started, at least that was what she was told. She looked up from the picture of the horse she was drawing, it was rather fat with sticky little legs, put down her box of markers and headed out of the stables. She walked up the hill to see what the noise was about. The satyr who was the source of the noise, a twelve year old looking girl with pants that were way to baggy for her, playing her pipes rapidly. Vines were growing out of the ground towards a viscous looking dog from the satyrs feet.
The whole vine growing thing was interesting but it was what was behind the satyr that interested the girl. Two boys, one was around her age, the other just a few years older were heading up the steep hill. She knew she wasn't allowed out of the camp borders, but she really wanted to run and meet them. Besides they was only about twenty yards away. Evelyn glanced behind her, Chiron was coming, did he had super sonic hearing or something? She dropped her sketch book and ran.
She stumbled over a rock, but managed to keep upright as she got closer to them. "Come on!" she turned and started to run back up, making sure they were following. They were panting, she would be too if she had been forced to run all the way up the hill. The three of the got to the top, "Keep going!" she shouted at them as they made to stop, she wasn't sure exactly where 'safe' was, it changed depending it was Friday or not. The smaller boy didn't start again. With a groan she turned back and grabbed his hand dragging him on.
She stopped when they reached the edge of the cabins. Out of all of them, she was the only one who was not pink in the face or panting. She smiled. "Hi!" she said cheerfully.
"Uh, hi?" said the taller of the two.
"I'm Evelyn!"
"Justin, this is Charlie." he said gesturing. Justin had strawberry blonde hair that needed to be cut, almond shaped eyes and a permanent smirk on his lips.
"Does Charlie talk?" she asked, then realized she was still grasping onto his hand. "Do you?" she turned her full attention on him. He too was taller than Evelyn, though not as drastically as Justin's foot above her. He has short messy dark brown hair, hands that dwarfed hers, and looked like her exact opposite. Where she looked best in the moonlight with her pale features, his dark skin glowed in the sun. He nodded his head, but said nothing. She raised her eyebrow at that, "Are you sure?"
Justin nodded. "Yep. Told me his name." Then there was a call from the other side of the hill "Justin! Charlie!" a feminine voice called, then Chiron's voice called "Evelyn!" Justin turned and shouted "YEAH!"
"Where are you?" Justin turned to Evelyn, his expression asking the question.
"By the Aphrodite cabin!" Evelyn shouted back using her hands to help magnify her voice.
"Aphrodite?"
"Yes, Aphrodite. Like the goddess. Um... there is..." she scrunched her nose thinking as she counted it out on her fingers. "Twelve of them, Mr. D, Apollo, Hept, Heft, Hephaestus?" she struggled over the name, "Athena, Hermes, Ares, Demeter, she's my goddess, Zeus, um... Hera, that one dude, and that other dude, and um... Artemis!" she recited.
"Like in Hercules?"
"No, he doesn't have a cabin here."
"No, not that. You know, the movie?" Justin explained with a roll of his eyes.
"Uh. No."
"You have never seen Hercules?" She nodded. "You're weird." Evelyn stuck out her tongue at him, he returned the gesture. He covered his mouth to stop himself from smiling, even Charlie had a twinkle in his eye that hadn't been there before, Evelyn wiggled her nose and they all burst out laughing.
"There you guys are." Chiron, in his full centaur form, was helping the tired satyr to walk. He smiled down at them, "You seem to waste no time in getting to know the new campers Ev." she grinned up at him. "So tell me, what are you names?"
"Justin and this is Charles, but he likes to be called Charlie, we think." Justin repeated himself from a minute before.
"He doesn't have a voice." Evelyn added in a not so quiet whisper.
"I do too!" Charlie's voice was soft but oddly powerful. It caused Evelyn to stare at him in wonder, her mouth slightly open. Noticing her staring, he defensively crossed his arms. "What?"
"Wow." she said, another grin forming across her lips. "Just, wow. You have a nice voice." he shrugged in a manner that made it seem he didn't care, but he gave her a small smile.
"So, do you have last names?"
"Lake and Beckendorf."
"Who are you parents? Do you live with your mother or father?"
"Mother." Justin said with a shrug, "Charlie lived with this mom too." a dark look that should not of crossed a seven year olds features flitted across Charlie.
"Do you know your father." both of the shook their heads, no they did not know their fathers. "Ah, I see you will be staying in Hermes."
"Uh, sir?"
"Yes Evelyn?"
"Can I say something, well two somethings to be exact." she pronounced exact, X-act.
"Yes, you can."
"I'm pretty sure that neither of them know what is goin' on or what goin' Hermes means. And Justin is an Apollo's kid.'
"How can you tell?" She shrugged her shoulders, pointing at his eyes they were the same shade as the sky. Then glancing up where sure enough, Apollo's sign had suddenly flickered into life. She then let out a bored sigh. "Can I go play now?" Chiron nodded slowly and as she ran off to find her sketch pad, he stared at her as if he had never seen her before.
The affairs of the gods were not important to the girl, nor had they ever been. She had gone to Mount Olympus that winter and had found that, minus Apollo who seemed to be very fond of her, all the gods were boring. They talked about grown up stuff (everyone knows that grown up stuff is the worst thing to talk about or listen to when you are a child) and seemed to argue to much for one family in her opinion. Apollo, on the other hand, had given her a CD of songs to listen to and seemed to share her boredom. But if she had paid enough attention to what they were saying, she would've heard in her fragmented Greek, that she had been the source of one of the arguments. And little did she know that she would be brought up several times in the years to come.
She found her sketch book, glad yet again that it was summer because the dust on her picture would've been covered in mud. She looked at the picture and sighed. It was supposed to be a rainbow horse, but the colors had smeared together and it was now brown, but the tail was purple as she had intended. She turned around to see the two boys being led into the big white house with the wrap around porch (it had some fancy name but she didn't remember it) and smiled. She knew her summer had just gotten a lot better.
Camp was in full swing, her half siblings commented on how big she had gotten and wondered if the old clothes they had brought would fit her. They did, but she felt happy that someone, or someones as it turned out to be, noticed her. Even as she fell into the routine of having actual activities planned for her, she always managed to run off and find Justin or Charlie to drag off to play or sit and talk.
Charlie, who had not spoken since the time he said he could talk, was miserable. He was shy, it didn't take a genius to see that. Being in Hermes did not suit him very well, the people there were open and friendly, and that was just what scared him. The only thing that really kept him going were the occasional midnight visits he would get from Evelyn and Justin, the time he got to spend in the forges, and the constant teasing between the two. He had demons, everyone in this camp seemed to, but his were hard to explain to anyone. Or maybe he was just to scared of what the others would think of him. He had not been chosen by any of the gods though Evelyn was sure he was the-dude-who's-name-I-can't-p'nounce-right's son, but seeing she couldn't pronounce a lot of the gods name correctly, that wasn't very helpful.
He was sitting in the arts and crafts room, stringing together something that he didn't entirely know was, when the small 'psst' came from outside the door. He rolled his eyes, it was Evelyn again. He hadn't gotten in trouble with anyone yet, but this councilor was not the type he thought he could cross. He slowly shook his head, hoping that Ev could see the motion. She didn't. There was another 'psst' from the doorway and this time someone else heard it.
Jacklyn 'Jackie' Satterlee had not been having a good time at camp. Her siblings were annoying, treating her like a child, and every time Charlie was missing from an activity it some how got to be her fault because after all she was the closest to his age in the activities they shared, she was thirteen and he was eight (it probably didn't help she was just starting puberty). So when she heard the psst, she purposely dropped the chisel that she was using near Charlie's foot. "Oh sorry Beckendorf, didn't mean to do that." she said as soon as the boy had realized what had happened. She had a cold voice that cut through conversations, a voice that always seemed to hog all the attention.
Charlie remained silent, trying not to do anything that might upset the proven dangerous girl. She was a daughter of Ares and twice his size. He bent down, retrieving the chisel where it that landed point down inches from his shoes, and handed it to her. That's when the third 'psst' came. "Oh, you better leave Beckendorf and run off with you girlfriend."
He didn't say anything, he didn't need to. Evelyn wasn't his girlfriend and now he couldn't sneak off because of Jackie. That's when the councilor noticed them. "Satterlee, Beckendorf, what are you guys making?" he made the question sound light and breezy, but when an Ares caught the attention of a councilor things tended not be pleasant for ever long.
"A new name plate for my mom's work." Jackie said coldly glaring at Charlie.
"And what about you Charlie?" Charlie shrugged, tying another knot into the rope. He surveyed what he had made, it looked like a mini hammock with no tree to hand on. He stuck his fingers into the newly formed mesh and pulled. He hissed in pain and the strings tightened cutting off his circulation and there was a collective gasp from the room as the sign of Hephaestus appeared over his head. Evelyn who had snuck into the room yawned in a bored way, "Told you. Now c'mon." she grabbed his arm because his hands were trapped and dragged him off to play.
He was still confused about what had just happened as they scampered off to the stables, the one place they seemed to agree on as a fun place to play. When they got there Justin was waiting for them, eating the remaining half of a carrot, nose tucked into a book. "Hey." he said, once he noticed them there. Being in Apollo had suited him quite well, he finally got to look at music in the way he wanted to, hence the book. It was about piano and guitar chords, how they combined and other interesting stuff to him. But the other two, one being a nature's girl and the other a child of Hephaestus, didn't understand the appeal of the book in the slightest.
They peered over his shoulders and only seeing chromatic scales, started to talk. Or, as it usually was, Evelyn talked and Charlie listened. She filled him in on the gods, training, what it was like to be a year-rounder, who was nice, which horse was the prettiest, exactly why you should stay away from Daffodil the rooster, and other important things as they waited for Justin to finish the book.
"Why don't you ever talk?"
"I just don't have anything to say really." he said with a shrug as they petted a chicken by the name Mandarin.
"Oh, I bet you do. You just are too shy!" she said with her traditional nose wrinkle.
"I am not shy!" he said, accidentally pulling out a few feathers of Mandarin.
"Than why didn't you say anything back to Jackie?"
He shrugged again, "I had nothing to say to her."
"Even when she called me your girlfriend?" she said after a pause.
"You're a girl, and you're my friend." That made Justin laugh. He put down his book, shaking his head in mild disbelief. "You guys are so clueless." Pestering from Evelyn commenced. And that was how the first summer of the friendship passed. Getting into trouble, getting out of trouble, shoving each other into the lake and having the rare fight. Ages didn't matter in their little group, they just took what little they had in common and used that to their advantage.
When camp ended each of them a bead for every camper's leather necklace, this one white with miniature sword on it, commemorating another string of successful quests (there had been at least five). There was the question of who was going to stay the year and who wasn't. Evelyn was staying, it wasn't like she had any family to go to. Charlie was staying as well, something about not wanting to see his step-father yet. Jason was caught. "But I've got my mom an she'll want to know how I am doing an see how much I've grown and other adult things they like to comment about." He tried to explain the day camp before camp was going to be officially over while they sat on the top of one of the picnic table in the dining area, though lunch would not be for another hour.
"True, I'm sure my dad has rethought about why he said my mom was going to come when he knew she wouldn't. He might want to have me back." Evelyn was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest, her back leaning against Charlie's. This was the first time she had mentioned her father, it had been assumed that she was an orphan.
"Your dad?" Charlie asked his voice a bit louder than they had heard it in along time, not since the time that he had stolen some of Evelyn's dessert
"Chinese dude by the name of Toni Young. Hardly remember him." Her voice were uncharacteristically serious as she fiddled with her necklace. She then shrugged and flashed a small smile that wasn't quite true, "You should go Justin, we can always see you next summer. I promise we won't get into a lot of trouble. You agree with me Charlie? Chaaarlie." she said his name in a singsong way, nudging him lightly with her elbow as she always did when she wanted him to talk.
"Yeah, sure." She rolled her eyes.
"Go Justin! Go!" She grinned a real grin. "Go deal with whatever you do doing the school year. But school still sounds boring!"
He smirked back, "You have no idea. Race you guys to the lake! Ready, set, Go!" He jumped off the table and ran towards the general direction of the lake. Evelyn jumped up, motioning for Charlie to follow and headed off into the woods. The glint in her eyes told him that she knew a shortcut.
Evelyn wasn't a very good daughter of Demeter. She loved nature, no one could deny that, it was just nature didn't love her. Plants did not bloom or ripen when she asked them to, like her siblings managed to do. But she was skilled at traps like everyone in her family, just more intricate traps. Trip-lines and roots that poked up when a victim least expected it was good and all, but she would rather have the victim fall and be out for the count for a bit, less danger that way. The only real thing that she could fully relate to with her family was the knack for the woods.
She had spent most of her first summer exploring the woods. She knew them fairly well, a heck of a lot better than Justin did. So she guided Charlie through the trees, knowing that Justin would be forced to take the long way around through the strawberry fields, while they cut a straightest path possible. The faint gurgle of an unseen stream that made its slow way to the lake was loud over the silence that the green trees cast over everything. A serene smile crossed her features, this was home for her. She was safe here
The light was becoming a bit fainter, they had reached the pine area of the forest. This part was said to have been the only non-natural part of the woods. Planted by mortals before this had become the closest thing to holy ground that the gods seemed to have other than Mount Olympus itself, they seemed to glare down at any half-blood that came there, even Charlie noticed it in the slight change of attitude that Evelyn showed as they padded through the trees. The way she was walking with softer steps, the way she held her head different, and how her breaths became slower. Power that wasn't the type either of them were used to resided here.
They made it to the other side of the patch, Charlie let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. He opened to say something, but Evelyn didn't seem to want to talk. She pressed on, starting to jog to hide the fact her face had just gone incredibly pale. She was shaking slightly, she hated going through there, but every time she forgot exactly why. Was it the sense of odd belonging there, or the faces that flashed in her mind as she ran through there.
They got out of the woods, the lake sparkling in front of them. She smiled, running to the shore. Slipping off her sandals, she waded in knee deep, not bothering to roll up the legs of her tattered jeans. Charlie paused before joining her, splashing her unintentionally as he stumbled over a stone. She giggled and splashed him back.
"Hey!"Justin was pink in the face glaring at them. "How did you get here before me?"
"Short cut." she splashed him and giggled. For that day, life was good.
((Hey, there are times where I sound like I have no idea what I am talking about. Truth is I do, MY narration style for this is from a general child. As Evelyn and Charlie get older, so will my writing style. It is really complicated and all, I shan't try to explain it all.))
Authors Note: if you have trouble with homosexual and bisexual things. Please, leave. Now. Just repeating that. Not that there is any homosexual things yet. There probably won't be for a long time. But there will be some. And I honestly do not want to be flamed for a thing I warned about. So until later, Grey Pezzola.))
