Chapter 1 - I become a quick-change artist
"I'm a WHAT?" I leaned against the Greek column for support. Surely they were wrong. It couldn't be true – I was a half-blood, just like all the other kids.
The day was hot, sweltering and cooking my oddly tan skin. I'd been out all summer, saturating myself in the warm sunlight. Now the warm air simply overextended my heart rate. Prickled heat stretched through my arms.
"You're a goddess," said Annabeth gently, reaching out to touch my arm.
I pulled away. "The goddess of what, exactly?"
"We have contacted your parents...your real parents. They'll tell us."
"Who are my parents? The god of death and the goddess of forgetfulness? How could they forget me like that?" I asked with a biting edge in my voice.
"Actually, half of that is right. Your dad is Hades, god of the underworld and death. Your mother is Persephone, goddess of spring. We don't know exactly why they gave you a mortal cover, but we'll find out soon. Ready to go in?" Annabeth prompted.
"Yeah" I'm a great liar. "Let's go."
I was amazed by how many kids there were in the dining-area. Annabeth grinned wide, leading me down a green, grassy hill. I mean, it was not that anyone noticed me...they just nodded or waved...to Annabeth, who was doing her best to explain the camp.
"...and there are the cabins!" she told me, pointing to an arrangement of buildings nearby. Some were golden, some were black, and one was hot pink. Kids ranging from seven to twenty milled between them, leaning onto the walls and talking. Some of them were shooting basketballs with little luck; the other team was invincible. Other kids were holding notebooks to their chests and staring rather forlornly at the sun. Cringing, I wondered why no one had told that them that they could go blind.
"Which cabin is mine?" I asked, wondering if I would get the one with a flowery roof. That looked cool, but simple. The pink one with lace fringing the awning looked overdone.
"Probably the Hades cabin. It's empty except for one kid who would be your half-brother. His name is Nico. But don't worry, he doesn't come around very much."
Great. The only family I would have doesn't come here. I really would be alone, wouldn't I? I mean, I guess all these kids had expected it. But it had surprised me…weird things had happened to me all my life, but I looked like my parents, I mimicked them. Stubbornly, I still found it hard to believe that I was some magical goddess.
"You being a goddess and all, I should go introduce you to Chiron." Annabeth mused, tapping her chin. Her golden blond hair was swept up into a ponytail. She looked the essence of poise; I'd never seen anyone who looked completely comfortable in a simple T-shirt and jeans.
"Who's Chiron?" I asked, trying to sound interested, though I just cared about getting to my cabin. What would it look like?
"Our camp activities director...here we are, the Big House."
Well, I admit it was a big house...literally. Two-stories with prim white curtains and stately strawberry window boxed sprouting…..odd, grapes. I brushed my black hair out of my face, revealing my violet eyes. Wait, would the other kids notice my eye's mutation? I pushed my long bangs back over my right eye.
"Why are they staring at me?" I asked, gesturing to a group of guys near some archery targets. Their sunkissed faces were giving me a funny look.
"Oh….my gods, Alynda." Breathed Annabeth.
"What? What is it?" I mussed my hair. Had she noticed my effort to hide?
Annabeth was staring at my head...no wait, above it. Odd. Had I really messed my locks up that badly? They were straight naturally; had they just sprouted a curl?
"You've been claimed." She stepped back a little, almost reverently. Claimed? By the archery boys? What was this, the medieval ages?
"What?" I looked down. Where my jeans and my babydoll top had been was a long, greek chiton with violet edges. Embarrassed, I noticed that it was rather drafty. Because I had been stuffed into a pair of ill-fitting jeans, however, the chiton was cool and floaty. But how had I changed? A man on a...wait, a horse, no...a centaur? Yeah, a centaur galloped up to us and said this:
"Hail, Achlys, goddess of night and the changing of seasons, child of Persephone and Hades."
Of course, by that time, nothing could have surprised me.