Here's another chapter, lovelies. This story has rather run away with my imagination, and what was meant o be a short sojourn into the like of Mish as a demigod, has expanded in my head into an epic with plans for a sequel. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: No, none of this is mine. All recognizable characters belong to Rick Roidan, and those based off of real people belong to their original owners. I'm just playing with them.

Chapter 2

In which Vikky is a swashbuckler, and Mish meets a dragon.

Okay, so maybe I was being a little overdramatic with that last line there, but really, I have no experience writing things like this. I tried to convince Vikky to do this for me, but she insists that this is my story, and I have to write it.

Vikky is weird like that; she loves words, especially poetry, but she is simply incapable of the wonderful nuances that come with any form of visual creativity. Take a flower, for example. I love flowers, both as individual creations and as what they represent. I couldn't put it into words, any more than Vikky could put it into a drawing. The closest I can come is that they represent life. A whole world put into a tiny seed and...Okay, waxing a little bit poetical there. The point is, I love flowers, and all other mater of growing things. So does my dad, Steven. Vikky says she loves growing things, but what she really means is that she loves looking at them and coming up with poetical ways to describe them. She couldn't care less about planting them, the little tiny seeds in the soil, and watching them grow.

Anyways, I ended the last chapter rather quickly; I suppose I just ran out of things to explain, But we were sitting in our back yard watching the clouds. Rather, Vikky and I were watching the clouds, and Vikky was describing them for Vanessa. Vanessa is ten years old, and was born blind. She has red hair, from Amber, and my dad's blue eyes. Vikky is a little over two years older than me, and had just turned fifteen. Her hair is blond, but darker than mine, and she keeps it cut short. She is also fairly short, reaching only five-foot-three, nearly two inches less than I. She, of course, insists that she is not short, only that I am freakishly tall, which may or may not be true.

Vikky goes to a summer camp. Now, you might not think this worth mentioning, except that she talks about camp all the time! And yet she never really seems to say anything. She goes on and on about different activities that they do, but I have never been quite able to figure out what any of these activities are. Something about archery, and a climbing-wall, and some counselor named Percy Jackson, who she seems to have a crush on, and is always going on about.

"There's one in the middle that's all smooth and soft, just like the way cream feels. Lower down they go all soft and feathery, as though the edges could tickle you…." Fascinating. No, really. Is can be interesting to listen to Vikky explain clouds to someone who has never seen anything, but I was getting bored. ADHD will do that to you. I turned my head to look at the tree-top I could see poking over the fence: It looked as though it could use a little water. Maybe some fertilizer…..

"Girls! Time for dinner!" My mom called us. Vikky stood up first, taking Vanessa by the arm. She led her into the house, leaving me to sit a moment longer. I hadn't slept very well the night before, because of some wacky dreams I had been having, and the cool evening air mixed with the soft aura of the plants surrounding me made me feel rather sleepy. Eventually I stretched and stood up, carefully closing the screen door behind me on the way in.

The screen door opened directly into the kitchen, and I served myself a plate of food keeping hot on the stove before continuing on into the dining room. Vikky and Vanessa were already at the table, along with our parents.

"Happy almost-birthday Mish." My dad said as I entered. "How old are you going to be: 15, 16?"

I rolled my eyes "thirteen, Dad"

"Did you finish reading Emma yet" Mom asked. "You don't have to do school tomorrow, of course, but after that I want you to start writing a rough draft for your report" All three of us girls are homeschooled.

"I'll finish it after dinner" I answered.

I went down to the kitchen to get some water. It was late, about eleven o'clock, so I was surprised to find the lights on, and voices coming through the door. I paused and listened: I don't normally eavesdrop, but I thought maybe it might be about my birthday tomorrow, and I have never been good at waiting for surprises.

"…Another one this morning. I don't understand, I'm not that powerful" came a voice I recognized as Vikky's.

"Maybe this is normal." Came Mom's reply. "I mean, you are getting older."

"Or…." My Dad's voice trailed off. "It could be Mish."

"Mish? But she's not one…is she"

"She could be. Her mother-"

I gasped. My mother? But my mother was dead-wasn't she? But my father had never really said that she was dead, only that she could never come back. My thoughts were cut off by the turn of the conversation.

"-Wait. I think I heard something." I heard a scraping sound, like a knife being drawn over stone, a sword being pulled from its sheath. Then footsteps were coming towards me, soft tiptoeing footsteps that I recognized as Vikky's by the way her ankles cracked. Startled, I turned and ran softly back upstairs.

That night I had several crazy dreams, in which Vikky carried a sword, and my father conversed in hushed tones with my mother-my real mother. I never saw her face, only the form of a tall woman with blonde hair.

The next morning I came downstairs, only to find My parents and Vikky waiting for me in the dining room. They looked grave, as though something bad had happened in the night. Still, they wished me a happy birthday and let me eat breakfast before telling me to sit down with them.

"Mish." My father began "I know it is your birthday, but something important has come up-"

I cut him off. "Does it have something to do with my mother? My real mother?" I turned to Amber "No offense mom"

"Yes." Dad answered. "Yes, it does have something to do with your real mother. I can't explain it right now, but it does."

"What do you mean, 'You can't explain it right now?'" I asked.

"Mish." Vikky interrupted "I promise you, everything will be explained once we get to camp."

"Camp!" I exclaimed "What about camp? Do you mean that camp that you've been going to?"

"That." Said Amber, speaking for the first time. "Is exactly what she means. Go upstairs and pack your back-pack with some basics. Stephen will drive you and Vikky there. I promise, everything will be explained."

The car ride was silent and uncomfortable. I had long since given up asking what was going on, since all the answer I could get was,' it will be explained to you when we get there'. We went farther and farther out into the countryside, passing signs that said "Pick your own strawberries" until my Dad suddenly pulled over on the side of the road and said "we're here."

We were parked at the base of a big hill, at the top of which grew a pine tree. Something gold glittered in its branches, and there appeared to be some sort of heavy cabling wrapped around the base. Vikky jumped out of the car, grabbing her backpack.

"This is it?" I queried, scanning for a visitors center, a cabin, something.

"The camp is right over that hill." Vikky answered, pointing at the pine tree. "Come on"

I turned to my dad. "Aren't you coming?"

"I can't." He said "Just go. I promise everything will be explained in a minute."

I was really, really sick of being told everything would be explained later; but I didn't see a choice, so I followed my sister up the hill. As I neared the top, I noticed that the cables around the base of the pine tree were moving, slinking and uncoiling ling a snake. Suddenly they whipped around and stood up, displaying bright eyes, smoking nostrils, and a scaly, snake-like body.

I was staring at a dragon.