ALISON
The bruises in my arms hurt. I knew I had to get up eventually but I was so tired I didn't want to spoil the little moment of rest.
"Come on, you need to keep trying" said Emma, looking down on me.
She extended her hand to help me stand up. I brushed the grass and dirt off my clothes and put my hands on my hips.
"Don't you think it's enough for today? I already broke two nails" I complained.
Emma is my half-sister. We're half-bloods. Half-human, half-god. We spend our summers at Camp Half-Blood, where we train to fight monsters and other things that I'm terrible at.
Oh, I should mention Emma and I are daughters of Demeter, Goddess of the harvest. The children of Demeter are known for having special abilities over plants, however, I have a special ability to suck at it.
Emma had been trying to teach me to control my powers ever since I'd gotten to Camp with no luck. She was frustrated, I know she was, and I couldn't blame her, especially because she was the only child of my cabin that actually wanted to be my friend.
"It's only a matter of time! Really, I think you were close this time" Emma said.
We were right outside our cabin. The ceiling and walls were covered in vines and the air smelled of lilies. Around us laid about a dozen plants I'd attempted to control but accidentally killed. They were still smoking.
I looked over at Emma. If you met us in another context you wouldn't think we were sisters. Like all Demeter kids, Emma had straight dark hair and forest-green eyes. She was really tall, kids made fun of her for that. Gardening gloves covered her hands and her hair was pulled in a ponytail. Her orange Camp t-shirt was covered in dirt but she didn't care. That's what made me different at the most.
I would've never worn those gloves because they would've ruined my nail polish. Plus, I liked showing off the shiny blond hair that marked my face.
My eyes were blue. My skills in the wild were pathetic. No one would've ever guessed I was a child of Demeter.
I stretched and the pain made me remember the bruises. I had fallen so many times trying to conjure spells I had started to wonder which part of me wasn't hurt.
Emma gave me a pity smile "Let's clean this up and then you can go ask Chiron for some nectar"
We'd only started collecting the dead branches when I heard someone gasp. I turned around to see Bennett, one of the Hermes kids, trying to catch my attention.
"Uh, Ally? Hi, uh, Chiron's looking for you" he said.
Poor Bennett was so clumsy and nervous whenever he talked to girls. It didn't bother me anyway.
I checked on Emma who nodded at me "Go ahead, I'll finish this for you, just this once"
I smiled at her and took off.
"So Bennett" I said "where's Chiron?"
"He's at the bonfire. You should hurry, it sounded important" he replied.
The bonfire place was empty because it was midday, so obviously everyone was at their regular camp activities. I found Chiron contemplating the lake in silence, his expression completely serious.
"Sup, mate" I saluted as I approached him.
He looked confused and turned to face me "Pardon me?"
"It means how are you" I explained.
"Oh" he replied "Alison Brook, right?"
I stood in disbelief and rolled my eyes "Chiron. I've been coming here for four years, you know who I am"
He still looked very confused and a little dizzy but he shook his head and his eyes turned more lucid.
"Right, sorry. Alison, we need to talk about something serious but we have to wait until the others are here"
"The others?" I retorted "What others? What's going on?"
Chiron took a deep breath "You were chosen by the oracle. You have a quest"
I couldn't move. I could feel my heart pounding and my face burning red.
"Is this a joke? Chiron. I'm not hero material. I can't go on a quest knowing that my teammates are going to have to save my useless booty every five minutes"
"As I said, you were chosen. It wasn't my idea, to be honest, I think it's a pretty horrible idea, but you have to do this. And sorry but you can't pick your companions, this is no normal quest"
I went from shock to anger in half a second.
"Excuse me? Oh dear, I'm not going anywhere with some strangers. Nope. I can't believe you're making me do this. What if they don't like me? What if I don't like them? I don't want to go risking my life with any sort of inexperienced jerk that is…Oh never mind, he's kind of cute" I said as I noticed the boy approaching us.
