An updated version of Raja's story! I still know Raja is a boy's name, but this time I've made it more accurate and used Hindu gods instead of Greek ones.

"Thief! Get back here!" the enraged voice of the fruit vendor assaulted Raja's ears. But thanks to her brilliant and perfectly executed plan, she was already disappearing over the nearby rooftops. Other street urchins below cheered and whistled for her until the vendor shouted that he was going to have them all arrested. Raja herself stifled a grin as she grasped the edge of the roof she was on and swung down into the third story window of a decrepit old apartment building. She began to creep towards the door; her own on and off apartment was on the first floor.

As she went, she caught sight of herself in a mirror. She straightened, examining her glossy black hair, coated in dust, as was her dark, Indian skin. But it was her eyes that puzzled everyone. Instead of the normal rich brown of the Indians, hers were stormy gray, like the sky before a monsoon. She mentally shook herself and kept moving. Just because mirrors were rare in her life was no reason to go goggle-eyed.

She stretched her hand out, curling her nimble fingers over the doorknob, but before she could twist it, someone caught her wrist fast. Her heart skipped a beat, as always when she was caught, but years of pick pocketing had taught her to be calm is such situations. She turned and nearly had a heart attack. As though he had walked right off the walls of one of the Hindu temples, a man with an elephant head stood gripping her wrist. His eyes seemed to bore right into her soul and worse-they were the same color as hers!

Then the man/beast spoke.

"Why do you insist on using your intelligence for petty theft, Raja?"

The use of her name also startled Raja, but she played it cool.

"What's it to you? I do what I have to to survive," she said. Her eyes glowed defiantly as she spoke. She had taken care of herself for as long as she could remember. Despite this, looking him in the face made her stomach churn-what WAS he? "I wouldn't expect someone like you (Whatever you are) to understand."

The man frowned and there was a flash of pain in his eyes. "It's time you learned," he said.

"Learned what? What are you-" Raja broke off because there was a blinding flash of light and then the pressure on her wrist vanished. When the stars faded from her eyes, she saw a sight so equal to the last in its bizarreness she could hardly believe it was there. In place of the manbeast, there was a creature that had the front half of a stag and the back half of a seal. For the love of Krishna, she thought. What will this day bring next?

"Um…nice…seal…deer…thing," she said hesitantly, wondering if it wasn't planning on lunging at her.

"Hello Raja," the creature spoke. "I have been sent to help you."

"Where'd the elephant guy go?" she demanded.

"If you are referring to Lord Ganesha, he has gone back to the realm of the gods, I assume," the creature said nervously. "I am Norbu, your protector."

"My protector? Protector of what? If you're my protector, where were you when I was starving? Or sick? Or arrested? Some protector you've been," Raja said scornfully.

"Lord Ganesha was only recently made aware of your existence. But that is beside the point. I am here to take you to Camp Half-blood."

"What?" Raja was starting to wonder if she wasn't going completely insane. Or had she smoked something and forgotten about it? Was she still asleep? Anything seemed more plausible than what was happening right now.

"Camp Half-blood. It's a camp for kids like you. Demigods. You are a daughter of Ganesha," Norbu explained. He sounded as if he'd had this conversation often-his tail wriggled with impatience.

"What does he want with me? My parents are gone," Raja said sullenly.

"He is the Hindu goddess of wisdom," Norbu replied, glancing over his shoulder.

"I don't believe in gods," Raja said. In fact, it had been a long time since she believed in anything but herself. What could one truly trust int his cold, cruel world? Nothing. There was a shout of thunder from outside.

Norbu started and clapped his hooves together. "Well, they believe in you, young Raja, and you are part of them, whatever you believe. You must come with me now! Now that you are aware of your heritage, the monsters will be on our tails!" He flicked his own anxiously.

Raja rolled her eyes, but she didn't see any reason not to play along with this yahoo. After all, she relished excitement, and here was a real adventure, right on her doorstep!

"Where exactly would we be going?" she asked.

"Punjab."

"And what-" Raja broke off at the sound of growling coming from a nearby window. Norbu's ears flicked back, flat against his head.

"Let's go!" He shoved her out the door with one hoof. "They're onto you!"