Not a Happy Camper

RYNN

I wake up to a sea of eyes. This is a little unnerving, especially when one of them winks.

"Welcome back."

The eyes move out of my line of vision, which seems suspiciously smaller than it was before, and I see my worst enemy leaning against the wall.

"Get out of here, or I will kill you," I yell, and throw my pillow at his face, hard. He catches it and doesn't even flinch. Argus, who I figure was the one I saw before, doesn't blink an eye. (No pun intended, I assure you.)

"Don't worry, I was forced to come. I have no desire to nurse a drama queen back to health," he adds coolly. I really, really hate him.

"I'm not a drama queen, Terrence. You cheated on me."

Why can't someone host a big fake house party for all the ex-boyfriends of the world and blow them up? (Terrence never could resist any celebration. What child of Dionysus could?)

"No, I didn't. If Grace's mom was anyone besides Aphrodite, it wouldn't have mattered that I was hanging out with her. You're just a clingy, jealous, bi-"

"That's quite enough of that, I think, Terrence," Chiron sharply interrupts. I didn't even see him enter the room.

"Now, Rynn, what do you remember?"

This troubles me. "What do you mean? Summer got us out of there, and... oh."

He tells me I blacked out when Summer's boyfriend, a son of Ares, drove us here. I didn't know Rick was old enough to drive, but apparently he even has a car of his own.

"Now, there's someone I want you to meet. Well, two people actually, but one of them I don't think you'd want to talk to. Anyway..." he sticks his head outside. "Camille? You can come in now."

When the girl walks in, the first thing I can think of is that she looks frighteningly familiar. "Mayn? What are you doing here? Did you get a makeover or something?" I ask, surprised. The girl shakes her head sadly. I see now that she's too young to be the nice little cat-lover.

"Rynn, Mayn Greets is a monster. Summer shot her," Chiron adds. Of course, the Nemean Lion. Great. "This is Camille LeClaire. Mayn is her... mother."

That's just weird.

"Her father was a son of Aphrodite, as you can probably tell," he continues, and Camille blushes. "Mayn, as you know her, seduced him while in a different human form. But don't worry, Camille's perfectly tame."

Ugh. She's a descendant of Aphrodite, as well as part monster. I find myself hating that girl Camille already.

"Look, I have to talk to you. I know this is going to be awkward with my parents being who they are, but can you please just listen to me? This is important! It's about Briallen," she says quietly, and I almost wish I was part cat, as well, so that my ears could perk up.

Chiron leaves, taking the cheating scum with him, and I glare at him. (Just to clear my name, I did see him actually kissing Grace. I would've taken a photo, but I didn't have my camera. I'm not that much of a stalker, I promise.)

Camille is staring at me intently. "What's up with you and that guy, anyway?"

TERRENCE

AGH! I HATE her! Why did I ever date Rynn, anyway? She's only the daughter of a minor goddess. I should've said yes to Grace. (Oh, and don't give me hell about the whole kissing thing. I was kissing her goodbye after telling her I already had a girlfriend. She asked me out! Gods...)

But Grace is going out with a scumbag from the Erebus cabin now, anyway. I hate that guy. I hate everyone. EVERYONE! (And don't pester me about my anger issues, either!)

So, yeah, I did like Grace. I liked Rynn, too, but how can the spawn of the dawn compare to someone who would be a princess if Aphrodite was a queen? Am I being biased? Yes. Do I care? Not likely.

BRIALLEN

I need to get out of here. I can't even tell Rynn or anyone that I'm safe! Iris would normally be able to send a message, but she's weak, and also happens to be asleep. (I wish I had some ambrosia. She'd be fixed up quick as a flash. I usually keep some nectar in a hollowed-out piece of crystal that I wear as a necklace, but it shattered when I first got here.)

I could try to use a drachma. I don't even need any spraying water to make a rainbow here. That's all there is. Issy always has drachmas in the folds of her dress, and I've known her since I was four, so I doubt she would mind. I grab one from a piece of cloth my her ankle, and throw it into the rainbow, shouting, "Rynn Yakova at Camp Halfblood." Somehow, even though Iris is down, it works!

"RYNN! RYNN!"

She hears me screaming, and turns. Her lips move, but the sound is broken up. "Brielle? Where are you?" I am startled by the fact that someone else is there, but try to tell her I'm safe. She nods.

Suddenly, the image fizzes and vanishes, sparks crackling where it used to be. But who was that girl standing by Rynn's bedside?