My name is Terra. My mother is Gaea, the earth goddess. I share a lot of her traits, but not her personality. I am good. I try to help people.I am 13 years old. I've been at camp half-blood for 2 years; ever since I met that boy Leo Valdez. I guess I should tell you how I met him and how this all got started.
I was at the foster home like I always was. My father forbid me to leave. He said I would be safe here, nothing would go looking for me. Monsters have attacked before, and I'm not talking about those bedtime story monsters that parents tell their children about to scare them into behavior. I'm talking about dracnea, the evil lizard ladies who grow two heads every time you cot one off, and hellhounds that are like like black labs except 100 times bigger and scarier and have these glowing red eyes and teeth that are way sharper than your everyday razor blade, and cyclopses, and demons, and well... you get the picture. Anyway I was at my foster home and I was 10. Nobody liked me because they thought I was a freak and I don't blame them. I had these fingernails that were never painted, yet always painted. Ever since I was a baby I always had these painted fingernails. But they weren't like hot pink or anything like that. They were ocean blue with green tips. Like land on water. Like a globe. Like the earth. And no matter how hard I scrubbed it would never come off. Like my nails just grew that color.
So I was just sitting by the stairs all alone (obviously) when the foster door opened. I looked up and wasn't surprised at what I saw. Just another kid who looked beat up and miserable like the rest of us foster kids. He was probably looking for somebody who might make a nice new brother or sister to take home with him and his parents. Then I saw the "momma" of the house walk in after him and close the door. "ATTENTION EVERYBODY!" she said a little louder than she should have. "This is Leo Valdez and he will be joining us at this foster home. Make him feel welcome." and with that, she exited the room.
I felt really sorry for him. I couldn't imagine how embarrassing that must be to just be tossed into a new place and not introduced to anybody. He looked a little uncomfortable too. He was just standing there not knowing what to do. Besides, I really need to make a friend. I walk up to him and say something real friendly like "Umm... hey." "Hey," he said flatly. Okay, so much for making friends. "My name is Terra," I said a little more friendly. "Leo Valdez at your service." he said with a quick smile. It was quickly replaced by a frown. "So," I say. "Do you want a tour of the place?" "You bet! Where's the food?" he said with a grin. This time it stayed. I gave a little laugh. "Were not allowed to have food aside from breakfeast, lunch, or dinner, besides one snack a day. I can get you that snack though." I said "Wow," I say. "I just realized how pathetic this place really is." Leo gave me a real laugh. I mean not even a fake laugh that people sometimes give me when I say a joke and they don't get it but they don't want to hurt my feelings. It was a genuine, joyful made me feel awesome. I hadn't heard one of those ever since my father died.
He took some little gadgets out of his pockets and started fiddling with them. He must be ADHD like me. "I'll take that tour now if thats alright with you Terra." he said. My green eyes lit up. "Yeah, I'll start by showing you your room." I said. I figured that was as good a place as any to start. I grabbed his hand and led him upstairs.
As we were walking, Leo developed a sudden interest in my past life. "I was 5 years old when I first got here." I said. "I was living with my dad before. I dont know much about my mom, but she left me with my dad when I was a baby. My dad told me she was a really bad lady though. He said it was in my genes to be bad so I try extra hard to be good. I really liked my dad. He was really nice. He smelled earthy too. I dont know why but I really like the earth." Leo looked down and saw my fingernails. "Is that why you paint your fingernails to look like the earth?" he asked me. "Ummmm..." I didn't know what to say. I did just meet him, but he did deserve to hear the truth. What if he thinks that I'm a freak? I cant let that happen. "Yeah, absolutely! I love the earth and I like my fingernails to match it." I gave him an awkward smile. "Come on." I said, eager to change the subject. "There's a lot more to this foster home than you'd think." I said. He looked puzzled. "What?" "If you come wityh me I'll show you." I said. And I guess he figured he didn't have anything better to do, (which was true,) so he followed me into the closet.
"Okay, we're here. What now?" Leo asked me, a little confused. "Shhhh," I said to him. "Do you want to wake it up?" I asked him. Apparently he didn't, because he shut up after I said that. I grabbed a key from under a shoebox. His eyes widened a bit when I did this, but I wasn't through yet. I slid a square of carpet off and revealed a secret door in the floor. "Woah!" he said. "Check that out! There's like a door in the floor. I would not have expected that!" "Leo, hush! You're going to wake it up!" I told him. "Oh right, my bad." He said. I stuck the key in the lock in the door. It opened silently. I put my finger to my lips to remind Leo to be extra quiet. I stuck my feet in the door. Then my legs. I lowered myself down into the little room. I looked up at Leo and motioned for him to follow. He didn't look happy about it, but he came down too. "REVEAL YOURSELF!" I shouted. "What are you doing?!" Leo asked me. "What about that it thing we could have waken up?" he looked really worried. "Don't worry" I told him. "It likes me."