A/N: Hey everyone! This is a new, edited version of Chapter 1, hope you like it and if you want another chapter I need at least 2 reviews and a favorite/and or alert. 2nd A/N: WELL HELLO TO YOU TOO. My name is Daniela in case you forgot all about this story and its' plot and I am back, bitches! Literally been 3 whole ass years. wow time flies lol. Anyway Disclaimer: yadda yadda Percy Jackson doesn't belong to me but Rick Riordan and the plot is mine but original new characters are as well but old characters are not. Enjoy! Ps I would suggest reading, some things have changed ;)
My name is Daniela Andrea Trujillo, and up until today, I thought my life was as ordinary as anyone else's, and that life in Houston, Texas could not possibly get more boring. On that fateful day that started out like any other, I trudged out of bed, dressed hastily, glanced at my reflection and thought the same thing I always thought: 'This isn't what I should look like'. As usual, I daydreamed about what would be the perfect appearance; long unruly locks of curly sunny blonde hair, tumbling down to my waist, full red lips, perfectly tanned skin, and startling seagreen eyes that could change into even stormier grey eyes at will. I knew that there is no possible chance of me ever looking like that, but somehow, my soul expected to see that in the mirror.
Instead, I saw pin straight chestnut brown hair, warm hazel eyes, unevenly tanned skin, freckles and small lush red lips. It's a mask, my soul screams. You know what you should look like. No, my mind hollers back; that is what your favorite character's daughter would look like if she were real, along with her parents. I sigh as I finish my toast, I kiss both of my parents on the cheek, murmur a goodbye, then brush my teeth hastily, in record time, I might add, then grab my keys off the hanger.
I open the door, hop on my purple bike and pedal down the carpeted hallway. Once I'm outside, I breathe in the fresh spring air—mine and my best friend Lily's favorite time of year— and smile because my favorite band of all time, 5 Seconds of Summer, is blaring on shuffle as I bike towards the flaming pits that are known as high school. I set my bike on the bike rack near the back entrance to Silver Creek High School and walk to class—creative writing.
Once I've set down my backpack, Lily hugs me and starts raving about nature and how we should do something to save it, (which is normal behavior for her). Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpse a brief flash of hard white teeth that are inhumanly sharp, like fangs. I've always had keen senses that can pick up whenever someone mutters or whispers my name, and this happens now, as my old, gnarled teacher bares her pointed incisors and growls, "Trujillo, that surname has to be a cover. She smells just like the Jackson demigod did at her age, that sea scum. When will that protector Lily stop hanging around her so I can complete my orders?"
I turn back to Lily, trying to ignore my teacher's muttering which proves to be difficult, since Lily seems to hear her as well, and her eyes widen as she slinks off to speak with the teacher. Instinctively, I glance at the trident on my right wrist, which is glowing faintly blue, like always, but today it is somehow brighter. I wonder why the glow is significantly stronger, on a regular day like today, but then I remember what my teacher was grumbling to herself, and I think that maybe today isn't so ordinary after all.
Lily comes back, picks up her backpack, and tells me to pack my things back in my bag in a small, slightly frightened voice that I've only heard her use whenever she has to speak in front of a crowd, or in front of a class. I do as she says, and sneak a quick peek at my teacher, who is licking her lips as she bores her pale green eyes into my soul. I'm no genius, having ADHD and dyslexia, but even I could put the pieces together: this day was about to take a dark, dangerous turn. As we walk briskly out of the room, Lily relaxes a little bit, but she hands me a black hoodie. I stare at her, wondering why on earth she would want me to wear a black hoodie in 80-degree weather.
Lily sighs and opens the door to the cafeteria. "If you don't want to get caught sneaking out of school, then I would recommend wearing the damn hoodie." I shrug and pull it over my t-shirt. When I look down at my body, I can see the floor. I'm completely invisible. I sharply gasp, and Lily shushes me. A hall monitor walks by. I just noticed that Lily is also invisible, but I can tell where she is by her quiet intake of breath. "Lils, if you could tell me why we are both invisible, why we are ditching school, oh and while you're at it, tell me exactly how it is that we are invisible? That'd be great." I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm. Lily sighs. "It's amazing how in that statement you resemble both your mother and father perfectly." By now, we are in the parking lot, but the black invisibility hoodie is reflecting the sun's heat, yet I am extremely grateful for the safety that this jacket is providing me. I wonder what Lily means by this, because both my parents are sarcastic, but they don't really ask that many questions. I do, for some reason.
As we stop in front of Lily's blue convertible Volkswagen Beetle (my dream car, that I am completely jealous of her for having), I suddenly remember my purple bike. "Lily, my bicycle! We can't leave it there, someone will recognize it, and report it to the police if I don't turn up to school in five days." Lily considered this for about 30 seconds, then she nodded and said, "Yes, I suppose you're right. Go on, then." I ran towards the bike rack as fast as I could without my sneakers making too much sound. I hauled the bike out of the rack, and jumped on it, biking back to Lily's car. She was waiting by the back of the car, where a car bike rack was secured. I put the bike on the rack. "You really thought of everything, didn't you?" I said. Lily nodded. "It's my job to be thorough. Now, come on, Long Island doesn't wait for anyone." I blanched. "Long Island?! That's in New York, which is 3,000 miles from here, and that journey takes two days!" Lily opened the driver's seat and got in.
I guess I didn't have a choice about this. I went in the car, and Lily gunned the accelerator faster than I'd ever seen her drive. As we turned onto Puddledock Knoll Road, my body became visible again. Lily's foot remained on the accelerator, and the speed dial dipped to 60 miles per hour on a road that would be ticketed if you exceeded 30 miles per hour, because of the school being adjacent to the road. "Lily," I said warningly. Her foot didn't waver off the accelerator, but she sighed and said, "Look, I know that you deserve an explanation of why all of this happening. But, just know that I'm really not the person qualified to tell you what's going on. I am only allowed to tell you that we're going to New York, one way or another, as in the current moment it is a matter of life and possibly death, also that your parents know about this. They have accepted it and so should you. I'm also authorized to tell you that the people you have lived with all your life are not your immediate family, but they are your grandparents." Lily said seriously.
My whole life, I had never gotten along with my family, and it kind of made sense. I looked nothing like my "dad", but I had inherited his small bones. When I was a baby, I had gray eyes. My "parents" eyes were both brown. You had to wonder where I got those gray eyes. I had always kind of known. "To be honest with you, Lily, I've always kind of known. We've never gotten along, and I have some traits they don't have." I said sadly. Lily nodded. "I get it. I know it's a lot to take in, so we don't have to talk if you don't want to, ok?" I smiled at her, gratefully. "Thanks, you're the best."
"I know." I smiled once more and plugged my headphones into my blue iPhone 5C. Lily waved a hand in front of my face. "Wait, before you do that and totally tune out, I have a gift for you from your parents." She holds up a beautiful coral colored seashell necklace on a silver chain and offers it to me. I take it gingerly, as if afraid to damage it. "Your parents designed it together. Now, they told me to warn you about it. It is only to be used in times of grave danger, or when training. It will only harm demigods, immortals or monsters. Use it wisely." I nodded. "Thank you, Lily."
3 hours later: I looked at the road, then at the sign next to it that read "Welcome to Louisiana". "Whoa! How're we already in Louisiana, you've only been driving for like 30 minutes." "You dozed off. It's been 3 hours." Lily responded smoothly. "Now can you tell me about my parents? We're out of the state." I asked hopefully. "Sorry, kiddo. Chiron's orders." Lily said. I let out a scream. "LILY GREENWOOD! HOW COULD YOU NOT HAVE TOLD ME WE WERE GOING TO CAMP HALF-BLOOD?!" Lily sighed. "I should not have said that. I really should not have said that," she said, mostly to herself. "I didn't tell you because it was Chiron's orders, and I knew you would react like this. As for your parents, Chiron and I suspect we know, but until you're claimed, we can't be sure. Although, you act way too much like Percy for us to pretend not to know." Lily murmured under her breath. "What was that?" I asked innocently. Lily's eyes drifted to the side window. "Nothing," she said quickly. I noticed Lily kept looking in the side window. "σκατά. We're being followed." I recognized what curse word she had said in Greek, which I thought was cool, but then I remembered we were being tracked.
"How can you tell?" I asked, curious. "Satyr's sense of smell is way better than humans. Duh." Lily said casually. I didn't say anything. Lily laughed, and it sort of came out like a goat's bleating sound. "You're taking this better than the others. Most kids freak out at the mention of me being half-goat." "I think that's a given of being a demigod, Lils." Lily chuckled and nodded. "That may be true for some kids. Besides, you're not a demigod. It's possible that you could be a minor goddess because of the potency of your parent's powers. If that's true, then you'll have to stay at camp year-round." I grabbed my phone, since I had remembered that use of cell phones is how a monster can track demigods and switched it to airplane mode. I frowned. "Do I have to give up my phone?" Lily shook her head. "The Athena and Hephaestus cabin collaborated together to modify any demigod or legacy's phone. They'll do the same for you."
I woke up to my phone playing the soft ballad of "Lego House" by Ed Sheeran and Lily gently prodding me awake. "We're here," she said softly. Excitement coursed through my body, and for once in my life, I was wide awake after waking up. "How did we get here in under a day?" I asked. "The car is enchanted to drive more miles than mortal cars." Lily said. I smiled, stretched and put the necklace that I'd been clutching in my left hand while I slept around my neck. Lily had stationed her car at the bottom of a steep hill lush with greens. Lily sniffed the air, worry lining her features. "We should hurry, they're not far." I gulped nervously. Lily smiled encouragingly. "Don't worry, Daniela, you take after both your parents. I'm sure you inherited their battle skills." I nodded and started up the hill. We hiked in silence and finally, after about 10 minutes, we came to an arch that read 'στρατοπέδων mισό αίμα' The letters moved in my mind, the arch now read, Camp Half-Blood.
Lily smiled then said, "welcome home, Daniela." A loud thud that filled me with dread sounded behind me. On instinct, I tapped my necklace, then blinked. My mind had fallen asleep for a second—again, thanks to my dyslexia—when I opened my eyes, there was a 3-foot-long celestial bronze sword that was surprisingly light and felt balanced in my sword (right) hand. As my eyes adjusted to the glow of Greek Fire on the torches near the arch, a horrible looking monster approached. It was a scaly, green skinned serpent lady that resembled my creative writing teacher. A scythian dracanae, my mind told me. The dracanae lunged at me, and once again, my ADHD battle skills thought for me, and I did what anyone would've done in my situation: I slashed downward with the sword. The monster hissed when the blade cut deep in its scales; it tried to bite me, but I rolled out of its trajectory, and came up standing.
As I waited for the monster to attack again, I noticed an eerie, unearthly light radiating from my body. The shimmery glow was a brilliant shade of seagreen and turquoise mixed together; also, a faint grey light emitted from me. Another monster came at me from the left side of the top of the hill, so I whirled around, slashing and stabbing forcefully, and I spotted another hiding in the bushes. I raised my sword and sliced it in half. Panting, I faced Lily, whose mouth hung open. Slowly, my senses detected that Lily and I weren't alone. There were at least 300 teenagers in Greek armor and blue or red feather plume helmets. A centaur stepped forward. The teenagers dropped to their knees when they saw the glimmer of light circling around me. I observed two things as I looked out the huge crowd of teenagers and the centaur in the middle. One, there was a symbol over my head of a grey owl and a seagreen trident. Two, I was no longer wearing the clothes I had been before. Now I was wearing a turquoise blue silk dress in the same high low style I had worn to my 8th grade dance. I looked down at my feet, which were adorned with glittery diamonds on open toed heels.
The centaur stepped forward and said, "Hero, Camper, Savior of Olympus; Hail Daniela Andrea Jackson, Daughter of Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, heir of the throne of the Sea God, with Annabeth Chase-Jackson, Daughter of Athena, Hero, Camper, Savior of Olympus, Head Architect of Olympus, heir to the throne of the Goddess of Wisdom."