Author's note: Hello my fellow readers! Thanks for choosing to read my story! Trust me, you won't regret it! :D
Daniela
Today is my fifteenth birthday. It's also the day of the first time I came here, ironic right? I remember that day with clarity, the day new friendships were born, new family, new love, shhhhh, he doesn't know the love thing yet.
I smile as the flashback of that day comes…
I ran faster. My legs felt nub from all the running I had done recently. I couldn't go faster, I was already too worn off and, frankly, I have never been the athletic type! And I'm about to be eaten by a monster! And I mean literally get eaten! By literally a monster! Let me explain myself... Ever since I have sight I can see things that normal people are not supposed to see, well, not that I know any people that see them. See what? Monsters. They are everywhere I go and everywhere I turn, they follow me and try to kill me but nobody ever sees them! N-O-B-O-D-Y! And it's pretty frustrating if you see it in my point of view! Why? Well because my mom died a few weeks ago and left me with nobody! N-O-B-O-D-Y! Not even my dad (I never knew him) and now I'm hanging out in the streets like a freak in unknown lands! Why unknown? Because I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, a little island on the Caribbean, but my mom found a good job (or better than the other one she had) on New York so we moved here and ever since I set foot on these lands more monsters have tried to kill me and I mean more monsters than usual! It's frustrating, like I can't let my guard down or some monster is gonna show up and eat me, sometimes I think I'm overreacting but since my mom is not here to calm me, it's no use to try. I wish someone could understand what I'm going through. I'm just thirteen for god's sake! But don't think I don't know where to go...ok you can think that, I have no clue to where I'm going, but I know its somewhere called Camp Half-Blood, my mom said that before she died and now I'm starting to doubt her, why the hell did my mom wanted me to go to some camp?
I kept running and running through the woods until I found a lake. Is it a lake or a river? I don't care! All I know is that I don't know how to swim! Yeah, yeah, how humiliating blah, blah, blah but for some strange reason my mom never let me near water and I figured that maybe (just maybe) she had a reason. I was starting to back up from the water, when I heard a growl close behind me. The thing that was chasing me was too close! I looked at the water. Well, I guess this is it, I thought. I prayed for some kind of miracle to happen! Well, maybe I'll die now trying to swim for my life and trying to get to a place I haven't even heard of but it's worth the try! And so I jumped.
At first I thought I was gonna drown but then it was like the water spoke to me, the current of the waves sent me forward and I started doing what I saw what people do when they swim. I kept going even though I didn't know where I was going and then I made the horrible mistake of breathing...Nothing happened! I breathed again...Nothing! Ok, this is seriously not right! I may not have swum in my life but I know people are not supposed to breathe underwater! I'm seriously freaking out! I thought.
My arms and legs were just too weak and too tired so I couldn't swim that well, plus my overgrown dark brown hair was in my face and I couldn't see anything. My eyes were starting to close, which I knew that was a problem. I can't fall asleep at water! Well, let me rephrase that... I'm not supposed to fall asleep on water! No it's still not how I want to express it... I shouldn't fall asleep on water! Ehh, close enough! My eyes closed. I quickly opened them again. STAY FOCUSED! said a voice inside of me but all I thought was: So tired...Need place to sleep! Then, I noticed something above me, it was a boat! Well, not exactly a boat, more like a canoe, but still! I climbed in it with my eyes almost closed and fell inside, some part of me wondered where did this canoe come from and the other that how come I came out dry out of the water but I didn't get much time to think because I fell asleep quickly.
That night I dreamed of a wide open space filled with plants and in front was a lake and two people were sitting next to it, a boy and a girl. They were talking. They talked and laughed for a very long time. Out of the conversation, I found out their names were Percy and Annabeth. Time passed. Suddenly, the girl named Annabeth looked at the water and gasped. She stood up "Percy look!" in the water there was a canoe getting closer to them... It seemed strangely familiar...Inside there was somebody... a girl with dark brown hair that ended in her lower back, she was sleeping, then I realized in a gasp that it was me.
I woke up gasping and the first thing that I saw was the dark night surrounding me, the second thing were the shadows in front of me and I jumped suddenly, terrified by the monsters that were sure gonna eat me and I screamed "Leave me alone you monsters!" and I started throwing punches to the air until I lost balance and fell out of the canoe, panting underwater. I was still really weak and my body ached with every move I made. I realized too that my head was spinning and I had a headache, probably from sleeping in something that was moving. I could fall asleep here and I wouldn't care, except that there were monsters out there and they wouldn't leave until I fought them. I took out the kitchen knife that I always had with me (my mom's) and it was probably a suicidal decision but I got out of the water, as soon as I got out I saw the two figures again but they were human figures now, upps, then one of the figures took out a sword that came out of ... his pocket? And as I got closer, I saw that the two figures were the same ones I saw in my dream! At the same time I was scared that the one named Percy would charge me with the sword, but they weren't looking at me now, they were looking at something above my head, when I looked I saw a trident, it was shining a blue-green in the dark night but I pretty much didn't get the whole situation... It was just too much for my brain to produce right now! The two people from my dreams, the strange canoe, the monster that was chasing me, the strange behavior underwater, the sword, the trident and the last thing I remember was me collapsing and Annabeth yelling "Help her! We gotta get her inside!"
Darkness. I was surrounded by it. I tried to remember the last thing I had seen but I couldn't, then, I heard noises, they seemed to get clearer by the seconds:
"Do you think she'll wake up any sooner?" said a girl's voice.
"I doubt it, I feel her aura and she is very weak" said another voice but this time it was a guy, both voices were coming from beside me but both voices were unknown.
"You're so positive" said the girl.
"Why are you here anyways?" said the boy.
"I heard she came from the lake and I just thought it was interesting and I could ask a few questions when she woke up...What about you?"
"Typical you, always looking for gossip"
"Oh shut up zombie dude! First of all, you don't know even half of me, second, I'm no daughter of Aphrodite, and third, you didn't answer" she said clearly annoyed
"Sheesh I was kidding! And for your information I happen to be passing by and Percy asked me to help and look out for her" he answered with pride.
"Oh, give the boy applause!" she said with sarcasm "Sorry"
A few minutes passed.
The girl started "Do you think that if I sing she can get better?" she said.
The boy groaned "Oh no please! I know you're the daughter of the god of music and you're mom was a singer to top it all but please no!"
The girl ignored him and started singing with softness:
"Hold on to me love
You know I can't stay long
All I wanted to say was I love you
And I'm not afraid, oh"
As she sang, I felt different, less weak...
"Can you hear me?
Can you feel me in your arms?
Holding my last breath
Safe inside myself
Are all my thoughts of you
Sweet raptured light it ends here tonight
I'll miss the winter
A world of fragile things..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" she was cut off by the boy. "That song is waaay too depressing! It's about death!"
"You mean like you?" she said in her defense.
"Whatever then" he said.
"You're so annoying sometimes"
"Look who's talking"
The girl glared at him and sang a different melody.
"You're on the phone with your girlfriend
She's upset
She's going off about something that you said
'cause she doesn't
Get your humor like I do
I'm in the room
It's a typical Tuesday night
I'm listening to the kind of music she doesn't like
And she'll never
Know your story like I do"
Again, as she sang I felt different, like wounded with every word.
"She wears short skirts
I wear T-shirts
She's cheer captain
And I'm on the bleachers
Dreaming 'bout the day
When you wake up and find
That what you're looking for
Has been here the whole time
If you could see that I'm the one
Who understands you
Been here all along
So why can't you see
You belong with me
You belong with me..."
He cut her off again "A love song? Gimme a break!"
She groaned loudly "Go to Hades!"
"Already been there!"
"Urghh! You don't know how much I wanna kill you right now!"
"Doesn't matter! I could just come back and haunt you anyways!"
"Urgh! Why do you have to be Hades son?"
I groaned. I wanted them to stop! Maybe if I made a physical sign that said 'SHUT UP' but I couldn't find one. They stopped yelling when they heard me.
"See?" said the girl "My singing works! I can heal! Well, at least I can give strength to wounds!"
"Shhh!"
They watched me closely as I opened my eyes and I saw two figures. The boy had dark, silky hair with warm brown eyes and olive-toned skin. The girl's hair was a mixture of blond and brown and she had misty blue eyes. The girl was the first one to speak "Hello! Don't worry, I know you're confused but we'll explain everything later when they think you're ready"
"Ready?" I said, I noticed my throat was a little sore."For what?"
"Oh, I'm sorry! My name is Melody!"
I looked at the boy, who hadn't spoken since I woke up."Why are you looking at me like that? Is something wrong?"
Melody hit his arm to make him snap out of it. "Uhh, I'm Nico"
Melody smiled at me "And you are?"
"I'm Daniela Rivera, nice to meet you"
The flashback ended. Ever since that day, I have been friends with Melody and Nico. I found out I was Poseidon's daughter and Percy was my brother, also that the canoe was sent by my father after I had prayed for a miracle, it was a lot to take in after all that had happened to me, especially when I met my Cyclops brother too. Also, after that day, Mr. D has been calling me Gabriela Reed and my friends 'River', because of my last name.
On my fourteenth birthday, Nico took me to see my mom. That had been the best birthday present ever, to see my mom again. He summoned her from the dead and I talked to her for a long time, I cried that day in my sleep, but they were tears of happiness and memories. Ever since then, I have been in love with Nico di Angelo, and sometimes I think that maybe (just maybe) he feels the same way too.
Sometimes, I think about his actions and see that maybe he's trying to show me how he feels in codes. Like that time I was packing up Percy's stuff …
I was sick of Percy and his messy side of the cabin, it embarrassed me, so I took advantage that he was on a small quest and threw his stuff on a bag. While I was packing his stuff, Nico watched from the entrance of the cabin.
I glanced at him from time to time, until finally I said "You know, you could help"
He smiled that radiant smile he had "Nah, I'm good"
I rolled my eyes and kept packing, I got to the floor and picked up some clothes Percy had underneath the bed, suddenly, Nico yelled "What's THAT?" I hit my head with the bed as he said that and when I stood up; he looked at me and said "What's that on your lower back?"
My eyes popped open when he said it "Umm"
"Is that a tattoo?" he said, his jaw dropped.
"Ummm" I ran to the exit but he grabbed my arm and spun me so my back was at him and he slightly looked beneath my shirt.
"Why in Hades name do you have a permanent tattoo of a turquoise circle?" he yelled.
"Shhhhh!" I said angrily, even though secretly I was enjoying his hands on my tattoo "Sheesh, do you want the whole camp to know?"
"Answer the question Danny!" I loved it when he called me 'Danny'
I sighed "I got that tattoo after my mom died"
He laughed humor-less "So you decided to go wild and do whatever you wanted?"
"No" my voice shook " Turquoise was my mom's favorite color, so as mine, and the circle is because my mom used to tell me to not draw hearts in my notebook, to draw circles, hearts can break, but circles never end…" a tear fell from my eye, he wiped it away with his thumb.
"Oh, I'm sorry for overreacting"
"It's okay… Now get your hands off my ass!" I smiled.
"Oh!" he blushed "I'm sorry…"
I smiled at the memory. I thought that memory meant something because, why was he looking at my lower back in the first place?
I suddenly wondered, what was he planning for my birthday today?
I was sitting in the same spot that I had arrived to this camp, I could make up with my eyes the canoe in the water and Percy with his sword and me with my knife in hand and trident above be. This was also the same spot where I used to look at the clouds with Nico…
"Hey, that one looks like a fish!" I said, pointing at a cloud.
"That one looks like a sword" said Nico, pointing too.
I laughed "That one looks like a dolphin…"
"Well, that one looks like a skull"
I looked at him "You're so deadly" I laughed.
"And you're so fishy" he laughed with me."Hey"
"What?"I chuckled.
"What do you miss the most from Puerto Rico?"
I thought for a moment "Definitely the beaches"
He rolled his eyes dramatically "I would have never thought of that"
I laughed "I specifically miss Culebra's beaches…"
"Culebra?"
"Yes, Culebra is an island that is part of Puerto Rico and if you look at a map of it, it's underneath Puerto Rico to the right, I loved those beaches, in general all of Puerto Rico's beaches are beautiful, but the beaches in Culebra were the most beautiful of all Puerto Rico…" I stared dreamy at the sky.
My flashback was interrupted when I heard footsteps in the grass behind me. I turn my head and smiled at the sight of Nico. He sat in the grass beside me.
"Hey" he said.
"Hi" I said.
He smiled and stood up "I want to show you something" he offered me his hand, I took it and stood up "Close your eyes" I obeyed. For a second, I could have sworn my feet weren't on the ground, and when I finally felt the floor, it was different, and my head felt heavy and it was spinning lightly, but I kept my eyes closed as he said.
Finally, he whispered "Open your eyes" so close to my ear that it tickled and I had to hold back a giggle.
I opened my eyes and I gasped at what I saw, we were in a beach, but not just any beach, it was the most beautiful beach I had ever seen. We were in Culebra, I realized.
"We shadow-traveled?" I whispered, not losing sight of the beauty in front of me.
"Yes" he whispered back.
I ran to the water, just to feel that it was real… It was. I laughed out loud and threw myself in, not caring about my clothes and not daring to dry myself with my powers, I wanted to feel this. "Come in Nico! The water's fine!" I yelled, smiling.
He shook his head in denial, smiling. I closed my eyes and ordered the water to grab him and take him to me. When I opened my eyes, the water was actually grabbing his feet and dragging him to me. He was screaming and laughing at the same time. When the water let him go, he threw a bunch of it at me and I screamed in delight. I threw him a small wave and he fell back. I laughed. He shook his head. We both didn't notice when a giant wave came and it hit us both, sending us rolling to the shore. We ended up laughing breathless in the shore; I was on top of him, smiling. I didn't care how awkward the situation could have looked, but for me, it was just perfect. I was caught up by his beautiful eyes, shining against the sun and without noticing, without thinking it, without caring, I kissed him and found the key to paradise. This has been the best birthday ever!
When we finally got to camp, it was already sunset. Then, I heard a "There you guys are!" I turned around as Percy came running to us "I've been looking all over for…" He could have noticed the smile on our faces, or the way Nico's face wasn't grim or sarcastic anymore, or the simple fact that our hands were intertwined together, but the only thing he said was "Why are you guys all wet?"
I guess there was one thing we did forget…
Author's note: Soooooooo? How did you guy's liked that first chapter, eh? Hahahaha, well, in this story there will be lot's of characters having different situations and it will be randomly voted by you guy's when I finish putting all the characters in the fanfic. Now, if you have a character and you want him/her to be in the story, then send a review to me with the following information:
1. Full name of character:
2. Son/daughter of what god?
3. Name of mortal parent:
4. Problems at home? Yes or no? Explain.
5. Crush? Yes or no? If yes: Name of character.
6. Siblings? (brothers, sisters, cousins, etcetera)
7. Age of characters:
8. Extra information you'd like to add:
You can do more than one character if you like, I really don't mind. Remember to read and REVIEW!
-Steph