DESIREE

I'm sure you've heard the story of Percy Jackson and his life here at Camp Half-Blood. How he rescued the camp from invading monsters. How he saved the world from an evil titan trying to destroy it. How he also, for five years, just asked the girl of his dreams and one of his best friends, to be his girlfriend.

Our story, however, is going to be about demigods who are living a normal life in the mortal world but trying to hide their true identity in order to protect themselves from monsters and ancient beings.

My name is Desiree Juliet Jones. I have blond wavy hair, amber eyes, and I am a demigod. Yes, a demigod as in a child of a god or a Greek god to be specific. I am a daughter of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.

Today is just an ordinary day at camp, the campers doing their chores for the day. Some of them are at the archery field and some are at the climbing wall for their training. If you were an ordinary person, you would wonder why there is lava on a climbing wall, but for a demigod, it's just for training purposes.

I am in Camp Half-Blood right now, which is the only safe place for demigods. You'd be surprised by how many kids there are at camp. Some of the kids here have been staying in the camp for a long time. Although there are some of them who prefer to come here during summer vacation and go back to their normal mortal lives during the whole school year. In my case, I started my stay here when I was thirteen. I also prefer to spend my vacation here and now that I'm fifteen, going to camp always makes me happy. Most of the campers are very friendly, except maybe the Ares cabin, but none of them are like me. You see, at camp, most of the kids came from just one godly parent and one mortal parent, but in my case, I'm not the only demigod in my family.

All of us in our family are demigods, I'm a demigod, and of course, my twin brother is also a demigod, my cousins are demigods, our parents are demigods, and even our grandmother's a demigod. Do you know why? Our grandmother was a daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war. Her name was Elena Jones and she somehow gained the attraction of Apollo, the god of the sun, prophecies, music, and medicine. They had four children, a quadruplet, which to me was even amazing for a god. Their kids are Duane, Parker, Brooke and Giselle. My dad is Duane Jones and he works as a doctor at the Massachusetts Hospital in Boston. He has blond hair and hazel eyes. His charm on women got the attention of Aphrodite. They had two children, me and my twin brother, Adonis, who likes to be called Donny. He just looks like a guy version of me, which means he also has blond hair and amber eyes. My brother and I love performing music and arts. Our favorite activity at camp is the sing-along around the camp fire.

Our Uncle Parker is one of the best homicide detectives back in Boston. He has red hair but you can't really tell because it also looks blond and he also has light brown eyes. He got the attention of Athena because of how clever he is in solving a case. They had two kids, Precious, whom we all call Pré, and Preston. Both of them do home economic stuff. Pré loves to design clothing and shoes, while Preston loves to cook and eat. One time, he cooked the favorite food of all the campers. It was amazing because he did it in just one day and we'll never know how he did it. Pré on the other hand, is living a double life in the mortal world. Have you ever heard of the Precious Gem designer label? If you haven't, let me tell you. The Precious Gem label is one of the world's most sought clothing designs. These clothes show not just your favorite colors but also show off your personal style. The only mystery of this label is that nobody knows who the designer is. Well, I do know and so does the rest of my family. The designer is no other than the fabulous Pré Jones. Like all the children of Athena, Pré and Preston have gray eyes but they're the only kids in the cabin with red hair because the rest have blond hair. So you can obviously tell who they are.

Our Aunt Brooke is an inventor for Green Tech, a company that creates electronics using environmentally safe materials. She is the head of all the inventors in the company. She has very dark brown hair and dark chocolate brown eyes. Hephaestus, the god of fire, was impressed with her inventions and fancied her. Their kids, Blaine and Blaire, are also inventors and geniuses. Blaire has long black hair but, when it hits the light, it shines dark blue and her eyes are too. Blaine also has black hair but, if it hits the light, it looks purple. He also has one of the rare eye colors, violet. Blaire and Blaine are like a well-oiled train when they are working on a project. They just go for it without stopping and when they are on the go; their inventions just keep on coming. She does the blueprints and he does the building. Their best inventions are a hover car, time machine, teleportation device, and a multipurpose watch, just to name a few.

Our Aunt Giselle is a flight attendant. She has light brown hair and light brown eyes. We don't see her much but she always takes a break during the summer to be with us at camp. Since she's always on the go, Hermes, the messenger of the gods, met her in one of her flights and later developed a relationship. They had two kids, Grace and Gregg. Among my cousins, they're the sporty ones. Grace has dirty blond hair and has light green eyes. Gregg has light brown hair and grayish green eyes. She is in the track team and he is in the soccer team in school. They also like to play other sport that involves running, which are most of the sports. They like running because they acquired the ability of speed from their father.

Let me further explain why all of us are demigods. In our family history, it involved an oath to the River Styx. In a small island, in the Aegean Sea, my ancestor, Princess Adara vowed on the River Styx that all her descendants will be children of the gods. To stay loyal to that promise my ancestors followed where the gods are most powerful. They followed them from Rome to England until they reached North America. The oath that our family has kept for millennia was passed down orally. Unfortunately, some parts of the oath were misinterpreted or forgotten. This oath was never told by any of the ancient storytellers, which is a blessing in disguise because it is the only way that the whole family could keep it a secret until the present generation of demigods.

The oath never said we couldn't get married to anyone. It just said we need to produce demigods as children. In the ancient times, the promise was that we should bear a child by fifteen. But the current society has changed and it does not accept fifteen year olds to become parents. So, the gods decided to change fifteen to twenty-five. It's a good thing for my brother, my cousins and I because all of us are fifteen and we all agree we are not ready to be parents. I don't know how many of us are out there but I have a feeling we aren't the only family having this godly background.

Getting back to the story, it was actually the last night at camp and we were all at the campfire singing songs lead by the Apollo cabin. I finally convinced Chiron, the camp director, that we should sing some mortal songs that somehow refer to all us demigods. I love the sing-along. My brother and I are somehow the only people in the Aphrodite cabin that can carry a tune. Maybe it's because of our lineage. So it's really a good thing that all of the other Aphrodite kids are pretty and handsome.

All of us cousins know how to sing but I always notice every time I sing, people are mesmerized or possibly hypnotized. I know I'm a great singer but apparently people hear me as even better, which isn't so bad for my reputation. I know two girls in my cabin who can persuade people just by telling them what to do, which they call charm-speaking. But people around me get persuaded when I sing, so I guess you can call it charm-singing.

The next day, all of us were getting ready to leave. Usually it's not safe for demigods to be outside the camp borders because you'll be attacked by monsters. We have fought monsters before at camp but for fifteen years they have never attacked us in our homes in Boston. They never even attacked our parents when they were our age. Monsters don't seem to care about our family, which is fine by me. At least we can live a normal life. Most demigods are not so lucky. I heard plenty of stories about campers who get chased by monster when they get to camp. But the thing is, monsters usually don't attack children of Aphrodite but my cousins are more of a threat to them yet they still ignore them. I think this is part of our family oath but this part was probably one of those which were forgotten.

"Everybody ready?" my dad asked for the millionth time really making sure nothing was left behind.

"YES!" everybody groaned.

Uncle Parker asked my dad "Did you tell Chiron we're leaving now?"

My dad answered "Yes and he wishes us all a safe journey home." All of us got inside the vehicles that we brought and headed back home.

I missed being home. Although I love camp, it's nothing like sleeping in your own private room and no one to wrestle with just to use the bathroom.

I just had to say it "Home, sweet home." I was so tired that I skipped dinner and went to sleep.

The next day, I checked my calendar. It was only a week before school and the first day of my freshman year in Alexandrian High School. Thinking like an Aphrodite child, I wanted to go shopping for first day clothes. I called Blaire, Pré, and Grace if they wanted to come. They were all free today. I asked Grace if Aunt Giselle could drive us to the mall. She said she'd love to. I asked Donny if he wanted to come but he had plans with Gregg, Blaine, and Preston. So I just said okay and left him. I took a bath, got dressed and went downstairs. I ate a pop tart for my breakfast and watch TV in the living room while waiting for them to pick me up.

Later, I heard beeping outside so it must be them. I grabbed my bag and headed out the door. I greeted them when I got in the car. We talked and listened to music while driving to the mall.

When we finally got there, Aunt Giselle told us "Okay girls I'll leave you to your shopping. Meet me at the food court by noon. Got it?"

Grace replied "We got it mom."

"Okay sweetie, just be extremely careful of strangers. You'll never know what they really are." our aunt told us.

Then Blaire said "Don't worry Aunt Gigi, they usually ignore us. You should know. You four were only attacked at camp."

She sighed "Alright, you girls go on. Don't forget noon at the food court."

We got inside the mall and raided all the stores. All of us got awesome stuff. We decided to have a coffee break. Feeling generous today I asked them what they wanted. I went to the counter and saw a cute surfer dude with sandy blond hair taking my orders.

"Are you going to drink all of this?" he asked with a light hearted laugh.

"Um… no, actually it's for them." I pointed to my cousins.

"Well that's three orders for them. Now, what do you want?" he asked me.

"What would you recommend?" I said trying to flirt a little.

He took that as a challenge "Why don't I make you one of my specials, which I liked to call "Sprinkle of Sunshine."

"That sounds delicious! Why do you call it that?" I asked again.

He replied "It's actually a Mocha Latté with a dash of golden brown sugar and a sun cream design on the foam."

Then he started making the coffee. Then on the corner of my eye I saw a book of poetry behind the counter.

I asked him one more time "Do you read poetry?"

Then he answered with a smile "I do actually. Why, do you like poetry?" he asked.

"Poetry is fine for me but I prefer songs. It's still poetry but sung not said." I said to him.

Then he continued "I sometimes make my own. Do you want to hear one?" I replied "Sure." Then he recited:

Ten years hate, now ten years in love,

Together forever as the owl and the dove,

With four offspring lay peaceful as they rest,

While the sun shines, two rays on their nest.

"What do you think Desiree?" he asked me.

I was surprised. How did he know my name? I didn't even tell him. I guess he could tell what I was thinking. "If you're wondering how I knew your name, one of your friends said it when you were passing me by."

Then I said "Oh, you heard us talking? You must be a stalker!" I jokingly said. "They're actually my cousins."

He didn't look surprised "I didn't hear much and I can see the family resemblance."

Then he punched in the prices of the coffee and I handed him the money. I just realized that this guy reminded me of someone but I can't put my finger on it. So I just thanked him for the coffee and went back to the girls.

Then he called me "Hey! The poem I gave you? Remember it. Okay?"

Then I replied "Okay." Then I continued walking. I got to the table and gave the girls their drinks.

"Well that took a while. Having too much fun talking to coffee boy?" Pré said smirking.

"I did say I was feeling friendly today." I responded. We finished our drinks and continued shopping.

When I looked at my watch, it was almost noon. All of us went to the food court to find Aunt Giselle. We found her sitting in a booth. She apparently did a little shopping of her own. We ate lunch there and while we were eating, I couldn't help wonder why that cute surfer guy would let me remember that poem. I did remember the words and they also confused me. Ten years hate, now ten years in love? The only person I ever hated was a boy named Romeo Valentino. But if the whole line referred to him, I doubt that will ever happened. How could I start liking him, even more loving him? The thought of that made me disgusted. Together forever, the owl and the dove? Biologically, I don't think a dove and an owl can be together. But if this refers to two demigods, then the dove is a child of Aphrodite, which could also mean me. I wonder who the owl is. Am I going to have a relationship with a son of Athena? There are some cute boys in the cabin but none of them really seem like my type of guy. The last two lines made me a little more confused. Four offspring lay peaceful as they rest? Does that mean I'll have four children with the son of Athena? I had too many questions for that line. While the sun shines two rays on their nest? The sun is clearly Apollo and he will shine on both off us, thus, two rays on our nest. The two rays could be a connection to the oath. Does this mean I will bear two children with Apollo? Thinking about this grossed me out because my dad is a son of Apollo, so if Apollo is going to be the father of my two children, then my dad becomes my half-son and my children becomes his half siblings, which also means Apollo, being my original grandfather, becomes my husband, thus, my husband is my own grandpa. But I remembered the gods don't have mortal DNA so it doesn't count and I discarded that thought out of my head. Wait! Now I know why that boy looked so familiar. He looked like my dad in a younger version. The cute surfer dude was Apollo and he just gave me a sneak preview of my life in the future.

We went home after a long day of shopping. I said goodbye and went inside the house. Nobody was home yet, so I just went to my room to rest for a bit. I checked my calendar again. Just a few more days and school will start.