Ello! Updated chapter! Like it?

Disclaimer: No own for me. :(

Parry. Step. Swing. Parry. Step. Swing. It's funny how when you get really used to fighting that you do everything without thinking. The guy I was fighting saw nothing coming. I know, I probably shouldn't be making fun of the newer kids, because I was one of them once, but I always did anyway. What? We had just started and he was exhausted. It didn't take long for him to stagger and fall. I held out my hand to him, and helped him up.

"Thanks," he muttered.

"No problem."

Oh. Right introductions. This is a first chapter, after all. Or at least I think it is. Um, either way, my name's Solitaire Rhine. Stupid name, right? You, the kid out there who thinks their name is super boring, try growing up with a card game for a name. Not fun. And the nicknames you get... awful. Was my mom drunk when she named me? It seemed like it.

Oh. Yes. Her. My mom. Dead. Or at least I think so. I was always told she was dead, but who knows what's real these days? Not me, for sure. My dad, on the other hand, I knew was alive. Because he was a Greek god.

Yes. You heard me right. Greek. God. Which one? No clue. Definitely not Apollo- I can't sing, dance, aim, or write poetry. And musical instruments broke when I touched them- at least, that's what my best friend, Jenna, would say.

Five years. That's how long I've been waiting. Really, Mr. All Powerful god who happens to be my dad, care to spare a moment to claim your oh-so unhappy daughter? You've had thirteen, soon to be fourteen years. Get off your lazy butt for once and claim me. Seriously, it isn't that hard. Or at least I've been told. You know Apollo? He's got thirty kids running around in his cabin. Thirty. And what did he do? Claim them.

Oh gods. I just ranted mentally to my dad. I've lost it.

"Solly. Sol. Freaking. E."

Sighing, I pretended to clean my blade with my neon-orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. "Yes, Poke? How pleasant of you to come by and speak to me. Do you plan to often?"

Poker mock groaned and brushed a strand of light blond hair, streaked with a dark blue, out of her gray eyes. "Ranting to Daddy Dearest again? Really, Sol, I knew you were crazy, but the dude can't hear you. If you're going to yell at your parent, just give him spolied food as an offering. I failed a test once and gave my mom moldy cheese. Let's say she wasn't happy about that, but hey, I haven't failed since." To prove her point she held up the back of her right hand, where you could still see the white scars where the owl tore out her skin.

And yes, my best friend's name is Poker. The card game twins, people call us.

I rolled my eyes. "So? I could accidentally give it to Athena. Zeus knows I'm dumb enough already. Besides, I value my eyes where they are, not picked out of my skull." Poker shrugged.

"Your loss, then."

"Yeah right." I tucked both knives into their sheaths on my wrists, making sure to clip the cap on both blades so it didn't fall off. I carried my knives with me most of the time- even though I was pretty sure I wouldn't be attacked, they made me feel safer. Still, I had to cap them so no one got hurt, and never, ever, could I wear my wrist bands while sleeping. What? The guy had gotten too close to me while sleeping, and his breath smelled weird. Is it my fault I s;ashed him on the neck? No.

"C'mon. Dinner's soon. Do you really want to be kneeling at the end of the table?"

"Oh look," I whispered. "There goes Percy I-can't-do-anything Jackson." From the heads turned, I knew it was either that or Mr. D in his underwear. Probably-and hopefully- the first.

Call me jealous. Call me bias. I hated that guy with a burning passion. You save the world once and everyone thinks you're the biggest thing since Michael Jackson. And really, what had he done? Gotten lucky. "You know, sometimes I really wish that scorpion's venom would have worked quicker."

"Hey Solly! Come earlier next time and you might get a seat," Travis Stoll, head of the Hermes cabin joked. I had to admit- it was odd to see him instead of Luke, because of his betrayal a year ago, where he tried to kill Percy with a scorpion.

I had been cheering the scorpion on.

Anyway, Mr. D, the camp director, stood up. "Yeah yeah, welcome to another summer at Camp Half-Blood. You managed to stay alive another year. Whoopee." The usual. When I got up to give an offering to the gods, I thought Please, whoever my father is, tell me.

Then something odd happened. A bunch of satyrs and nymphs came running out of the woods. Most of them crumpled to the ground and never came back up, but one reached the pavilion. "They're here," he whispered before he fell down. Jenna, one of the Apollo's, stood up and ran to him.

"Dead," she said quietly, as if she couldn't understand why. Everyone went silent as Jenna slowly walked over to the others. When she returned, she shook her head. "All of them. Gone."

A couple people stood up, wanting to see what was wrong. "No," Chiron, the activities director, said. "Go to your cabins. Now. Capture the flag is rescheduled." Poker and I looked at each other.

"I know what you're thinking," I whispered. "You want to go in there?" Poker smiled and nodded. "But we're not allowed," I said, and then we both burst out laughing. I led Poker to the woods, a place that we went to very often. I pulled a tiny flashlight and turned it on, letting me see a few feet in front of me. I was the one to take the first step into the forest. There was something sort of... off about it. Maybe it was because this was the latest that I'd ever been in it. (The harpies always sort of crept me out.) All of a sudden I heard a twig snap and I instantly turned the light out. Poker clamped her hand on my shoulder to tell me that she was there. I reached up with my left and touched her hand.

Suddenly I saw a bright shimmering light, too bright to be natural. I threw my hands up over my eyes to block out the light. I moved them once the light had faltered, and was surprised at what I saw. Standing in front of me was a girl, probably about sixteen years old, with long blond hair pulled into a ponytail. She was staring at me and Poker, looking slightly confused. "Oh- I thought that no one was supposed to be here," she said, though she didn't sound angry.

"Uh- we're not. But we came anyway. Who are you?" Poker asked.

"May I ask the same to you?" she asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

"I'm Poker- daughter of Athena, goddess of intellect, war, and useful crafts. And that's Solitaire, daughter of, well, we're not sure yet." The girl let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh good- you're demigods."

"What else would we be? Half giants? This is Camp Half-Blood, you know."

"Let's just say I haven't been here for a while," the girl said. I noticed that she sort of glowed.

"You haven't answered our question yet- who are you?" A bunch of sparkles flew off of her.

"Theia," she said. "Titan of sight and the shining light of the clear blue sky."

Once the shock of seeing a Titan got over, I said, "Are you the one who poisoned the satyrs?" Theia laughed. I liked her laugh- it was friendly and soft.

"Heavens no. Are you saying that because I'm a Titan? We're not all evil like Kronos." Next to me, Poker said,

"But aren't all of them dead or punished or in some sort of prison?" Theia laughed again.

"Most of them are, but Zeus let me live, only if I promised to do whatever he told me to," she said. "I was sent to find out more about the poison. Why are you two here?"

"We got curious."

"I would suggest going back- you don't want the harpies to eat you, do you?" Of course not. I turned on the flashlight and Poker and I turned around and left.

"See you," I said over my shoulder. Poker smiled at me.

"Well, that was mildly interesting," she said.