This is probably one of the longest chapters in ISWASS so far (and we've already written at least eight chapters last I remember). Luckily, it's pretty understandable why this is so long. There are multiple character POVs in this one (from Rain to Aris then to Kass and then to Rain again...then back to Aris) so bear with it. XD It'll get a bit confusing and drama shall ensue. You'll also get a taste of action in this too. There are fight scenes. ;) Oh and if you squint, you'll see some couple scenes. I do not own PJO. Flames will be taken care of by Leo and Jake (who appears in this chapter much to Aris and my distaste). Read, Review, Enjoy! Thanks!

-Eve E/Aris

XXX

Of Blood-Thirsty Monsters, Bad Luck, and Asy—Camp

Rain

After multiple pit stops at different gas stations, we finally arrived near Camp Half-Blood. "Alright, this is as close as we can get to the camp." Nice said. I shook Aris and Kass awake, the two had fallen asleep on each other. "We're here." I say. "Where exactly is here?" asks Kass. "Long Island," I reply. We all step out and the horse and carriage just disappears with the wind. We walk up the hill, Nico leading, the two girls next to each other behind him, and me at the far back. Both Nico and I are carefully watching the surroundings, anxious. There were absolutely no monsters the whole way. It was strange.

I hear Nico mutter something under his breath, sounded like a certain curse word that rhymes with "hit". When we reach the top of the hill, I realize what he's been cursing about…the monsters waiting for us at the bottom of Half-Blood Hill. Kass gasps and for the first time, Aris is quite silent, probably still a little sleepy. I pull out my butterfly knife, a gift from my father, Hades. It's made of Stygian Iron. It's gunmetal silver with black studs. Nico rolls up his sleeves, preparing to fight. "Somebody should call Jake." I say. "You're probably right…" says Nico. I turn to Aris and hand her one of my throwing knives. "Only use it if absolutely necessary, alright?" I say. "Of course, only if absolutely necessary," She says with a wicked smile and sparking eyes. What have I done? Too late now… "How many are there?" I ask Nico. "Exactly 5 Scythian Dracaenae, 5 Hellhounds, and a Cyclopes," He answers. Kassie Cat runs up the hill to go and call the campers. I take a deep breath and hope to the gods that they'll help us right now.

xxx

-Aris-

There are thousands of different meanings to absolutely necessary. But mine was probably not Rain's. I sheathed her throwing knife into my belt loop and joined them at the front of the group of monsters. I wasn't going to be outdone or left out. So, I fingered my charm bracelet, praying for luck. Suddenly, I gasped as two twin swords made of black iron appeared in my hands after touching the crossed swords charm. I grinned. I guessed absolutely necessary wasn't now.

One of the big, black dogs—a Hellhound, if my Greek mythology knowledge was right—looked at me and like the idiot I was, I waved. "Hi, doggie! Come! Yes, who's an evil, man-eating Hellhound?" I cooed and the Hellhound charged at me. It seemed that even dogs nowadays wanted me dead. I mean, the whole 'demonic, blonde, two-faced witches' called empousae incident seemed understandable. I understood if a bunch of cheerleaders from Hell cheering squad wanted to kill me. If I were a cheerleader from Hell, I'd want to kill any mortal I saw. Being stuck with cheering for demons and the dead could make anyone quite blood-thirsty. But honestly, dogs used to like me! In fact, I had owned one before. Apparently, anything from the Underworld—even cute black dogs—wanted to eat me. 'Congratulations, Aris Nightlark! You've gotten the award for most-wanted-dead-by-any-monsters!'

The Hellhound growled as it came at me with sharp incisors. I really didn't want to kill a dog, even if it wanted to tear me to shreds and used my bones for play toys but the Hellhound wasn't giving me much of a chance. "Deos de meas braccas allex vescimini," I screamed (The god of my pants eats pickle) and just as the Hellhound leaped to tear my face with its claws, I ducked. Rolling underneath it, I stabbed its underside with one of my swords and it exploded into yellow vapor. I spat the vile-tasting dust from my mouth and out of god-knows-where, a spear flew passed me and almost nicked my arm. I turned to the offending monster, a woman with scaly skin, yellow eyes, tails of snakes for legs, and wearing gladiator armor.

"Canis," I yelled at it and giving her the finger. "Quam me dicere ausim canis," The snake-woman hissed at me. I could easily understand her: How dare you call me a dog! "Quomodo audeatis vos subvertat hastam in me," I replied. (How dare you throw a spear at me?) Another snake-woman threw her spear at me. "Hey, stultus! Mauris quis loqui non vides?" I yell at her. (Hey, stupid! Don't you see that I'm talking to someone?) The snake-woman that I was yelling at looked like she wanted to roll her eyes. "Silentium, infernalis semideus!" The first snake-woman snapped. (Silence, infernal demigod) "Non indicas ad silentium," I shouted, frustrated. (Don't tell me to silence)

Someone appeared behind me and I turned to see a black-haired, dark sapphire-eyed guy probably around Rain's age. He was tall, lean, and he had a revolver in his hand. "I see that someone is too busy having a yelling match with a bunch of the snake women to actually kill them." He remarked. "Silentium, quisquis es," I retorted, forgetting to switch back to English. "Pardon me?" He says, raising an eyebrow sarcastically. "I said, Silence, whoever you are." I answer. "Well, Whoever-You-Are actually has a name." He commented. I put a surprised expression on my face. "Really?" I ask, "I didn't know." He chuckles. "Yeah and his name is Jake, Jake Krypton." He replies. "Rain mentioned your name." I commented. "Let me guess. Rain's your sister." Jake clarified. I nodded. "Yup, I'm Aris Nightlark. Pleasure to meet you," I say and we go back to back. "On my count, Aris," Jake told me, "One!" I touched the other charm, a heart with an arrow through it. "Two," Jake said. A bow and quiver appeared behind me and I readied the bow. I notched an arrow and Jake yelled, "THREE!"

I released the arrow and it flew in a graceful arc, finding a kink in the snake woman's armor. It screeched and exploded into yellow vapor. Jake had shot his and we turned to each other and shared wicked smiles. "Rain told me a lot about, Aris. She didn't tell me that you used a bow and arrow." Jake remarked. "She didn't know and neither did I. In fact, I never knew I had weapons until I touched this bracelet. The charms turned into weapons." I replied. Jake nodded. "Is that so?" He asked but it wasn't really a question. There was a loud bellow and I looked up to see a Cyclops. "Futuo," I cursed and Jake laughed. "Another thing she didn't tell me was that you can speak and curse in Latin. I don't need to know Latin to be able to guess what that means." He remarked with a wink.

I could see Rain—riding a pure black Pegasus with white eyes and hooves and a red saddle…I swore it was dead when I saw the stitches and the blood seeping out of its skin—and it looked like she needed some help. I looked at Jake. "Is there any way I could get something to ride on? I'm going to help Rain." I ask and Jake nods. "Yeah, you can…but the Pegasus Stables are too far away." He replies. I grab his wrist. "No, they aren't." I counter and he looks at me like I've turned into Hades from the cartoon movie version of Hercules. "Onerariam: Pegasus Stable!" I exclaimed (Teleport: Pegasus Stables) and somehow, I knew it was the right incantation because a portal appeared at our feet and we dropped into it.

xxx

We were spat out in the Pegasus Stables inside the camp. Jake looks at me and I ignore it because I was seriously sick of everyone giving me weird looks. I had seen evil cheerleaders, dogs from the Underworld, a sword-wielding new student, my sister turn into a crazy knife-thrower, snake-women who argued with me in Latin, and a Cyclops. I was sick of it. It wasn't like I was the weirdest thing they had seen. I'm sure the people in this camp were used to weird so why did they have to give the 'god-she's-strange' look to me.

"I wonder, you don't by happen to have any Latin-speaking Pegasi do you?" I ask and Jake raises his eyebrows. "Do I own a pair of snowmen boxers and a talking rabbit?" He answered and I sighed. "I'll take that as a 'no' then." I mutter. "Salve Pegasi. Est nomen meum Aris Nightlark. Bonum occurrit," I say. "What in Hades?" Jake asks. "Hello, Pegasi. My name is Aris Nightlark. It's nice to meet you," I reply, translating for him. "Salve Magistra Aris. Desiderare te audivi equo. Ego sum Argentum Et Tempestatem," A voice in my head whispers. I jerk back from the metallic-colored Pegasus in front of me. "I've found a Latin-speaking Pegasus." I remark and Jake raises his eyebrows. "That's—" He starts but I cut him off. "His name is Silver Storm and in Latin, his name is Argentum Tempestatem. I talked to him in Latin and he says…Hello Mistress Aris. I heard you needed a steed. My name is Silver Storm. I think he's willing to help me." I explain. Jake nods. "Silver Storm is a wild one. No one's been able to get close to him besides Butch, son of Iris, and that's only because Butch is really good with Pegasi. But besides that, Silver Storm doesn't like anyone nor does he find someone good enough to be his rider. He's chosen you." Jake says. "And I've chosen him," I add. What? Son of Iris? What in HADES? What's with the weird god and goddess talk? But, I've got bigger things to think about…like my sister dying by the hand by a living CYCLOPS? Yup, that's more important.

I unlock the barrier between me and Silver Storm. He obediently trots to my side and I smile. I swing myself onto his back and look at Jake pointedly. He gets on, much to the protests of Silver Storm, and we're off. The Pegasus Stables door flies open as Silver Storm barrels into them and when we get past those doors, Silver Storm spreads his wings and we take off into the sky. "Silver Storm, fly to the Cyclops. I must aid my sister," I say in Latin and Silver Storm bows his head. We fly towards the Cyclops and Jake yells over the wind in my ears, "I'm jumping for it! I prefer to fight on the ground!" I nod and Silver Storm drops low enough for Jake to jump off and roll sideways. When Jake's safely on the ground, Silver Storm shoots upwards again and I can see Rain on her dead Pegasus.

"Rainy!" I scream at her and she turns to look at me, holding a throwing knife in one hand and her butterfly knife in the other. "What are you doing up here? You've never been in battle! You'll get yourself killed!" She yells at me but I ignore her and tug on the charm on my bracelet. I notch an arrow and aim at the Cyclops' eye. I release the arrow and it goes flying into its eye. There's a loud bellow that sends both me and Silver Storm backwards from the noise as the arrow hits the bulls-eye, his pupil. "FILTHY DEMIGOD SCUM," The Cyclops yells and I cover my ears. "How dare you call me scum, you over-sized piece of cow dung!" I shout back, running out of insults. I hear Silver Storm snort. "Oh, shut up! I couldn't think of anything else to yell at him!" I mutter. "You call me cow dung! I will destroy you!" Cyclops howled and took a swipe at me. Silver Storm flew backwards quickly to dodge his hand and I chuckle. "Big words you have in your vocabulary, pea-brain! What happened to your face, by the way? Did someone throw a truck at you and squash your nose or something?" I taunt and honestly, I feel really stupid for insulting a monster like this. Silver Storm is throwing insults at it and I can hear it in my head. At least his insults made much more sense. I can't believe my own Pegasus could insult someone better than I could.

"Mean, bullying, cruel demigod is hurting me!" Cyclops whines and angrily tries to grab me. "SILVER STORM," I scream and the Pegasus gets us away by a hair. I scream curse words at the Cyclops, firing arrow after arrow at it. Rain is stabbing it with her dagger and the Cyclops bats her away as easily as swatting a fly. "HEY, IDIOT, YOU'D BETTER STOP HURTING MY SISTER OR I'LL BASH YOUR FACE IN!" I shouted and those were big words coming from someone who could barely hurt the Cyclops at all. At least, it got its attention. "WHO YOU CALLING AN IDIOT, DEMIGOD FILTH," The Cyclops roared. Oh gods, I was screwed big time right now. "Silver Storm, get me to the top of his head! I've got an idea and it's completely insane but it might work." I order and Silver Storm neighs in approval. We fly upwards so I'm not eye-to-eye with the Cyclops and he hovers just above the Cyclops' head. "I'm going to jump down. I'll probably fall as soon as my plan works so I'm counting on you to catch me." I tell Silver Storm. "If you're sure, Miss, but don't get yourself killed or anything! I'll be waiting at the bottom for you!" He assures me and I give him one last smile before I jump off his back and plummet down.

I drop on the Cyclops' head and he seems to feel it because he begins to vigorously shake his head, trying to get me off. I slip off and grab onto his ear to keep myself from falling. My nails dig into its flesh and the Cyclops howls in pain. "Oh shut up, you big baby!" I snap as I hurriedly begin to climb back onto the top of his head. God, please don't let me die. I drag myself up and collapse onto his scalp. His head is still shaking but it's slow enough for me to stand and balance without threatening to be pushed off. I slowly stand and my knees are shaking. When I'm finally upright, my whole body is trembling and I point my palms down. I close my eyes and shriek the one word I need to cast the spell: "DISPLODO!" My palms begin to glow brighter and brighter until a loud 'BANG' sounds through the whole hill and I can feel the Cyclops slowly disintegrating. I pray to God to spare me just as the Cyclops' head turns to vapor and I plunged downwards to my death.

Only two words come out of my mouth as I fall, "SILVER STORM!" As I fall, blackness begins to eat me and I know any time now, I'll be unconscious. I shut my eyes as hard as I can and I don't know what to expect as I near the ground. But, I don't stay conscious enough to feel the ground. I can hear loud neighing—perhaps it's Silver Storm—and high-pitched screaming so familiar that I know it's Kass's. "ARIS!" I can hear someone else call but I'm too exhausted to notice if it's Rain or Kass this time. The only thing that I remember is the fact that—before I hit the ground—someone's arms wrap around me and catch me before I black out.

xxx

-RAIN-

Nico and I run down the hill simultaneously, both facing a Hellhound. I throw one right in his throat and he roars really loud. After two years of Camp Half-Blood, this is what I've been training for; I'm not going to fail now. He throws his paw up and is about to swipe me, I reach for another knife…crap. I've run out. His paw is about to slam into me when I run under him and jump onto his back. I go run up to his head and move to his ear, "Eímai paidí tou Ádi̱, mou kánei kakó kai tha ypoféroun" I say. It means, "I am a child of Hades, hurt me and you will suffer." The Hellhound listens to me and responds, "Kóri̱ tou afénti̱ mou, eímai káto̱ apó ti̱n entolí̱ sas." He said, "Daughter of my master, I am under your command." I look around to my left to see that Nico has just finished beheading a Hellhound himself, he seems to like beheading things. I hear a scream, one that I've heard lots of time before, it's Kass.

I see her running down the hill with Jake behind her. "Nico! Protect Kass with your life!" I shout. He nods in return and runs to Kass. I turn my attention to another Hellhound who's been watching me. I whisper to my Hellhound, "Follow my commands, Hellhound. Prepare to fight." I say. My Hellhound nods and runs forward to the other Hellhound. "Epíthesi̱!" I scream, it means "attack". He bites the other Hellhound in the neck and it falls down instantly, dead. "Sas ef̱charistoúme gia to érgo sas, antío." I say. It means "Thank you for your work, goodbye." I slit the Hellhound right in the throat with my butterfly knife and he falls down and I jump off.

I stomp my foot on the ground as a crack opens up, "Écho̱ kalései máv̱ro ptó̱ma sas gia na anasti̱theí apó tous nekroús," I command. I summon up my Pegasus, the black corpse or in Greek "máv̱ro ptó̱ma". He rises up, looking the same as always. He bows before me and I give him a curtsy in return. I ride on top of him and we race towards Jake.

Jake's shooting a Scythian with his revolver when we arrive. The Scythian falls to the ground and he reloads his revolver. "Jake!" I scream. He looks at me and waves. "Look out!" He screams and before I can even react, I'm swiped by another Scythian on my arm. It stings and I signal Black Corpse to go forward. He runs and Jake shoots the Scythian behind me. "Thanks." I say. He gives me a smile and shoots the last Scythian. I smile in return and look around to survey the battle area. Holy Hell! I didn't notice the Cyclops over there.

I race to the Cyclops and start battling it. My throwing knives are back in my belt, spawning just in time. I aim a throwing knife and I'm about to hit the Cyclops when I hear Aris scream, "Rainy!" I look to my right and there's Aris. I scream at her a bunch of insults before we both have the Cyclops' attention. He starts to go towards us and I try to swipe him but all he's doing is pushing me away. Aris starts throwing insults back and forth between her and the Cyclops. I'm no expert in Latin but I'm pretty sure Aris' Pegasus was way better with the insults.

Finally Aris is able to kill the Cyclops with….I don't know. I've been watching it the whole time but I can't see at all what Aris just did. She put her hands on the Cyclops, screamed a Latin word, and a loud bang echoed through the clearing. I heard her Pegasus, if I remember she called him Silver Storm, neigh very loud. I screamed at the top of my lungs and ran forward to look for Aris through the thick smoke. When I got there, Nico had been able to catch her. I give Nico a look to see if he saw what I saw, but he returns it with a questioning look. He didn't see what Aris did. I don't understand it myself, but I know there's something off about Aris' powers.

I let go of those thoughts as I touch Aris. She's wounded very badly and needs to be medicated. "Bring her up to camp." I say, he does without any objections and runs to bring her up to camp. "Kass!" I scream, I couldn't see her anywhere. "Over here!" she says. I look over to her and see that she's also wounded. I go over to her and help her get secured on my Pegasi with me and we gallop over to Camp Half-Blood, where many curious faces look at us.

Chiron walks up to me, "What happened Rain?" he asks. "Monsters, lots of them. They were waiting for us." I say and I walk away. I carry Kass over to the medical wing. "Please take care of them." I say to Will, a son of Apollo. He nods and continues to work on healing both Aris and Kass. "What about your wounds?" he asks. "Theirs are more important right now, Will. Don't worry about it." I say. He gives me an uneasy look but follows.

I walk out of there and go to the forest. I sit on a rock and take a deep breath. "I knew I'd find you here Raindrop," says Jake. He sits down next to me and I look up at him, "I failed." I say. "We defeated them, how could you have failed?" He asks. "I failed. I was supposed to protect them, but they got hurt. What if they're permanently hurt now? What am I going to do?" I ask, the tears are threatening to spill but I don't let them. A child of Hades must not show weakness. "They will get better. Don't worry about it. Will is the best medic I know." He says. "Now come on, let's eat dinner." He says and offers me a hand. I take the hand and we walk over to the dining area. "Did you see that though?" I ask. "Yes." He answers. "How did she do that? How did Aris do that?" I ask. "I don't know any more about it than you do, Raindrop." He answers.

I sigh and we walk over to our designated tables, him at the Hephaestus table and me with Nico at the Hades table. "Thank you for protecting Kass." I say. He nods, "I know what it's like to want to protect a sister. Both Aris and Kass will be okay. Don't worry a thing about it. They're going to live." He says. "I know they're going to live, I just don't know if it can ever be normal again." I say. "What's a life of a demigod if it isn't normal Rain?" He says with a smile, and weirdly, I return that smile because it was very true. There was no such thing as a normal life for a demigod.

xxx

-Aris-

I woke up to a slightly throbbing head and feeling like I had been completely drained of energy but that didn't surprise me. I looked down at my clothes and I realized someone had changed them which was another thing that didn't surprise me. Instead of the white shirt, vest, and jeans, I was wearing another one of my signature outfits. It was a purple shirt, a black skirt, purple & black striped stockings, and purple and black striped fingerless arm warmers.

What did surprise me was that I woke up to see yet another stranger who seemed to know me even if I didn't know him. The guy sitting down next to my bed was blonde with turquoise eyes and tan skin. He looked athletic and pretty kind because he smiled at me in a way that wasn't wicked, mischievous, sarcastic, or holding some inward joke. It was a completely good-natured smile and I missed smiles like that.

"Hello, Aris. I'm glad you're awake." The guy said. "I'm Will Solace, son of Apollo and medic here in Camp Half-Blood." I smiled at him. "Nice to meet you," I replied. "You're the first person today that I've had a decent, nice conversation with. Rain and I have been talking lies to each other's faces because she didn't want to tell me about this place or being…whatever I am. I've been teasing Nico because the Mist slipped up and I suspected him. I've been arguing with Kass about him being a sword-wielding lunatic. Jake and I have been sarcastic with each other ever since we met and we hadn't known each other for even a second when he dropped a sarcastic comment. My conversation with Scythian Dracaenae and the Cyclops were basically just screaming insults at each other. Then, my Pegasus—Silver Storm—and I weren't doing much talking and it's just not normal talking to a Latin-speaking horse." Will cracked a smile and we both began to laugh. "Not having a good day today, are you?" Will remarked and I shook my head.

"First, my new batch-mate turns out to be a sword-wielding lunatic. Next, Kassie Cat doesn't believe me when I tell her. When she does believe me, Rain lies to us and convinces her that I'm just imaging stuff. My own sister lies about knowing said-sword-wielding lunatic who turns out to be her…brother? Well, I think they're brother and sister. I get pissed off and no one will go near me because they're scared I'll go all bonkers on them. Afterwards, I run right into the sword-wielding lunatic himself…literally, and catch him red-handed but he tries to glamour me or something. I get back to class and he's staring at me like I'm crazy. I get all his fan-girls to glare at me because they think he likes me. I get hyper during our last class and I have to handcuff myself to the desk just to stop myself from fidgeting and leaving. As soon as class ends, Kass and I get lost in the high school building only to be attacked by demonic cheerleaders called em-something or other. I fight them off with a trashcan lid and a broom. Rain and Nico come in and fight them off. And because I have pride issues, I feel useless and so much like a coward because I can't do anything to help. Afterwards, we get here by a carriage from the Underworld and get attacked by monsters, even a hellhound! I thought at least dogs would still like me but no! No such luck! Everything wants to kill me! I almost get skewered by snake-women, argue with them like a psycho until some sarcastic half-blood comes in. He lets me get a horse because I need to fight off a Cyclops that's about to kill my sister. I get rid of the Cyclops but drain all my energy and almost fall to my death. Today is definitely not my day at all." I say and Will's a good listener because not once does he interrupt.

When I'm finished, he leans over and ruffles my hair like a big brother would and I'm glad for the affection. It's almost normal to be treated that way and I feel stupid for showing weakness. But this once, I allow myself to complain and brat about my problems because I know Will isn't judging me. "You know…?" I say and he looks at me but it's not like I've sprouted snake-hair like Medusa or something. It's curiosity and I miss that look because it's not judging me or pointing out that something was wrong with me, not that I didn't know that or was proud of it but the way everyone looked at me made me feel like it was the wrong kind of weird. But I push away those thoughts because I'm being stupid. I had to accept what had happened and what I was. I had to accept it and move forward because I wasn't some weak little girl. I grew up to be a strong person and I was going to live up to that. Self-pity and weakness were two things I detested the most.

So, instead of saying anything else, I just answered Will's unspoken question. "It all started with a shooting star…" I said and suddenly, I was confessing everything. I told him everything strange that had happened to all three of us when we were small. I told him about my suspicions and how I couldn't bring myself to be mad at Rain even though she had lied so much to me because she was protecting me. I told him how I felt like she treated me like a child and how I didn't want protection. Will didn't judge so I kept going on. I told him about that Sunday night and the wish. I told him about everything that had happened since then, not missing a single detail. When I was done, I took a deep breath and I looked at him expectantly but I was hoping he wouldn't judge me. "That, Aris, sounds that the worst day to possibly have. But, it'll get better. I swear it will. You'll get used to be a demigod and when you do, you'll love it." He remarked. I beamed. "I hope it gets better and I'll hold you to that promise." I warned and Will laughed. "How about this, Aris? I'll be the one to show you around until dinner and you'll see how awesome it is to be a demigod." He offered and I grinned. "Where to first, tour guide?" I asked.

xxx

Will showed me every corner of Camp Half-Blood—a safe place for the children of the gods, explained what it was like to be a demigod—the child of a god, talked about camp activities, told me stories about the Titan War, introduced me to the campers, took me inside every cabin, explained how the campers were per godly parent, taught me names of monsters, and basically, squeezed every bit of information he knew about being a demigod and Camp Half-Blood into my brain.

He even taught me to fight. We practiced with my swords and I learned quickly. I shot down every target he asked me to when it came to archery—not always in the middle but that was good enough for me—and I proved to actually be decent in archery. Will also told me about the campfire sing-along tonight and we practiced a bunch of songs. I loved singing and Will was really good at playing instruments, being the child of Apollo.

The only thing that bothered me was that the Aphrodite girls were glaring at me but I easily ignored it. When I did point this out to Will, he just laughed and ruffled my hair. "They're always like that." He assured me and I was glad he didn't think twice about it. Will Solace was one of the nicest people I had met and that made it very hard to dislike someone like him, not that I was even trying to.

"Will, I have a question." I said on our way to the dining pavilion. "Shoot," He replied with an easy smile. "How are Kass and Rain?" I asked. Will grimaced. "Rain is mildly injured and she wouldn't let me heal her. In fact, she was more concerned for you and Kass. Kass was barely hurt. Nico was protecting her like Rain had asked. She's got some bruises and cuts here and there but a few sips of nectar and she was fine." He answered. I nodded. "That's good. I was worried…" I said. Will smiled and ruffled my hair again. "I happened to be the one fixing them up and I am a very good medic." Will assured me and I began to laugh.

"Anyway, speaking of Nico protecting Kass, do I sense a Niss (Nico x Kass) shipping?" I ask. Will grinned. "Jealous, Aris?" He asked and I began to giggle. "I'm straight, Will." I remark and he chuckled. "I meant about Nico. Are you jealous?" He clarified and I shook my head. "Not even a teensiest bit," I answered. "Aww…but Nico is 'so hot'!" Will teased, mimicking an Aphrodite girl. I shook my head. "Is he? I hadn't even noticed!" I replied, playing nonchalant. Will rolled his eyes. "No matter how little feminine traits you have, you still have to admit. You noticed." He prodded. "Fine, fine, I did notice. But…Rain and I are sisters. You said Rain was the daughter of Hades so that makes her Nico's sister so wouldn't that mean that Nico would be my brother and that I'm a daughter of Hades?" I ask.

Will shrugged. "I saw that magic that you used. You can't be a daughter of Hades but be able to cast spells. It's fishy and that's probably why everyone's looking at you differently. Chiron was talking to Rain about it and I accidentally overheard them. Chiron doesn't think you and Rain are related but you have almost the same features. You both have Greek features, soft but also striking. Your eyes are shaped the same, like hazel nuts but her eyes are green and yours are…blue-violet, not quite blue but not quite purple either. You both have light skin that doesn't bruise easily but Rain's skin is more ivory and yours is cream and roses—with a natural blush. You both have dark hair, but hers is wavy and black and yours is dark brown and slightly on the curlier side. You two look too alike not to be related but…" He explained, drifting off.

"Maybe…we're cousins or something?" I suggest. "Yeah, that's possible. But whatever it is, there's one thing for sure." Will said. "What?" I asked curiously. "She got the taller gene." He answered and I glared playfully at him. "Sure, sure, pick on the midget." I muttered, holding back a giggle. "But you know. Rain's much prettier than me. She's curvier and taller. She also has a much better personality than I do. I'm quick-tempered and she's more patient. Rain's nicer than I am. I'm always causing trouble, playing pranks, and teasing people." I comment. "Are you insecure?" Will asked, disbelieving. I shook my head, smiling slightly.

"No, I'm not. I'm stating facts. Rain really is like that but I like being me. I like being the innocent-looking troublemaker. I love how people turn to me and know that I was the one who planned that mischievous trick. I like being impulsive, strange, quirky, and mischievous. I don't mind having short bursts of temper or being hyper or doing stupid stuff that almost gets me killed. I know Rain. She has just as many flaws as I do. She has trust issues. Rain has always been accused of being flirty but I know she isn't like that. She's just as daring and bold as I am. We're both strange in our own ways. We both can get easily annoyed. Rain is also nice if she likes you. She's outwardly pretty nice and I'm outwardly pretty innocent. But Rain can be really scary when she wants to be and I'm a complete devil on the inside." I reply. Will gives me a smile and musses my hair.

"You're much nicer than you let on, Aris." Will comments and I stick my tongue out at him childishly. "I'm not nice," I protest and he shrugs. "If you say so," He says but I can see the smirk he can barely hide. I decide to change the subject. "Who caught me?" I asked. Will raised his eyebrows. "What?" "I fell from the sky after the Cyclops vaporized. Someone caught me before I hit the ground and it wasn't Silver Storm. Who was it?" I asked. "Oh!" Will began to chuckle as he said, "Your favorite sword-wielding lunatic, Nico di Angelo." "…I should probably thank him but it would sound weird. Thanks for catching me after I fell from the head of a vaporized Cyclops. Sounds odd, right?" I ask and Will laughs. "Come on, Aris. Shelve your pride this once and just say thank you when you see him. You're always so blunt anyway. Does it matter how awkward it sounds? A thank you is just a thank you." Will coaxed and I sighed. "Fine, I'll thank him when I see him." I gave in.

A conch horn sounded in the distance and Will had told me it signified meals if not to announce the start of Capture the Flag. "It's dinner," Will comments and I look at the night sky. The days go by quicker during winter time. We run to the dining pavilion for dinner and I check up on Rain at the Hades table. I ignore the staring I can feel on my back as I walk over to them. Rain sees me first, sitting across from Nico, who I was standing behind. "Hey, sis, how are you? Will told me you were injured…" I ask. Rain looks at me and this time it's concerned. "I'm not the one you should be worrying about. It's you I was worried about." She replies and I wonder if it's just the fact that she's not supposed to show weakness.

"I'm fine. I was drained and I was sore all over when I woke up but Will is a really good medic and an even better tour guide. I would've gone to look for you but I needed some cheering up and Will offered to show me around. I learned to fight, checked on Silver Storm, went everywhere, and I also met a lot of people." I told her and Rain smiled at me. "I also met Chiron and he's so cool! In fact, he said I could sit with you two while I haven't been claimed." I add, taking a seat next to Nico. He looks up at me and I give him a small apologetic smile. "Thanks, by the way." I say, turning away and not looking at him. Rain gives me a pointed look and I know she's giving me the same message Will did. It's just a thank you.

When I turn to Nico, he's raising an eyebrow and I bite my bottom lip to stop from sticking out my tongue at him. I clench my fists and took a deep breath. "…Thanks for catching me after I fell from the head of a vaporized Cyclops." I say and it comes out so fast that even I can barely understand it. Then I realize I had actually thanked him using the joke that Will and I had been going over. Zeus, kill me now. Rain began to laugh and Nico smirked. I could feel my cheeks heat up but I didn't say another word, focusing on summoning food and drinks using the magic plates and goblets. "Can't you even say thank you normally?" Rain asked and I looked up, flushing a dark shade of red. "That was the 'fake' thank you that Will and I had been joking about! I wasn't supposed to say it that way, you know!" I exclaim and this time I bend my head low enough so that my bangs cover at least part of the embarrassed blush on my cheeks.

"…You're welcome," I hear Nico mutter and I look up, tilting my head sideways and giving him a questioning look. "What?" I asked. He sighs and looks away. "You're supposed to say 'you're welcome' when someone thanks you, you know." Nico says and I know he's teasing me. I look up and glare at him but I sigh. "I know that, Death Boy." I mutter, plastering an exasperated look on my face. "I'm sure you do, Pixie." Nico teases and this time, my glare is real. "If you're referring to the fact I do magic, then fine. But if you're calling me that because I'm small, I'm going to kick you there so hard that you won't be able to reproduce." I warn and I can hear Rain laughing quietly. Nico shrugged indifferently, "What if it's both reasons, Pixie?" He asks and I growl. "You don't want to find out," I hiss. "You don't wanna find out, what?" A high-pitched voice asks and I look up to see Kass.

I shriek and jump out of my seat to hug the blonde-haired, rainbow-eyed girl behind Rain. "KASSIE CAT," I scream and tackle her. She manages to stay upright but I squeeze her in an infamous death hug until she tries to shove me away. "Aris, I can't breathe!" Kass gasps and I finally let go of her. "I was so worried. If Will hadn't told me you were all right, I would've come and see you!" I exclaimed and Kassie Cat—her signature blue cat-eared hoodie on—gave me a strange look. "Will, who?" She asks. "Will Solace," I answer, "Son of Apollo and our medic." Recognition lights in her eyes. "Oh! That Will!" She says, clapping her hands. "When did you run into him?" Kass asks. "When I woke up, he was there. Umm…I was taking everything in and I ended up telling him everything so he tried to cheer me up by giving me a tour around Camp." I explain.

Kass gives me a weird look. "You spent the whole afternoon with Will Solace?" She clarified and I nodded. "Well…yeah," I answered. Kass sighed and sat down in my seat and I took a seat next to Rain. "So, did anything happen between you and him?" Rain asks and I can see devilish curiosity in her eyes. I don't know how to answer that one without sounding like either a liar or someone who was getting their hopes up because I was neither at the moment. "He showed me around. What did you expect to happen?" I say, giving her a weary look. "Wait, guys, I have a question!" Kass puts in and her tone is impatient. "What?" I ask.

"What does who not want to find out about?" She asked, her expression looking very concentrated like she wasn't sure if her order of words was right. "Nothing," Nico assured her but I gave him a smirk and he looked aggravated. "What I want to know is how you did it?" Nico asked, turning to me. "How did I do what?" I ask. "How did you kill the Cyclops? You did something but no one saw it. What did you do?" He asks. Rain looked at me and even Kass seemed curious. I give them the best answer I could. "I don't know. I said some sort of spell: Displodo. It's Latin for explode. Best guess is that I used an explosion spell. I don't know how I did it but I just knew it was the word I was looking for. I just pointed my hands at the Cyclops and said it. Then, my palms started lighting up like Fourth of July fireworks. There was a really loud 'bang' and the Cyclops turned to yellow vapor." I reply and honestly, I was telling the truth.

Nico and Rain exchanged questioning glances and I want to tell them that I'm right here and they know more than I do. I had every right to know what was going on but I didn't plead, or throw a tantrum, or even say a single word because I was done with it. I was done with acting like a brat, begging to know more. That was it for me. If they wouldn't tell me, I'd find out myself.

xxx

*Kass*

Fighting monsters makes anyone hungry. I woke up some country house call the Big House—I think they must've run out of ideas when they named it—and after some medic guy named like…Will Solstice or Solace or something. He said he was a son of Apollo. I asked him where Rain and Aris were. Apparently, Will wasn't very good with being asked where people were because he didn't know where Rain went off to and Aris was still out after that weird nuclear thingy she did. I wonder if the Cyclops exploded or she made it explode but whatever she did, it reminded me of a light show in New York that Auntie—yeah, that's what I call Aris and Rain's mom—took us to.

Anyway, I left Will Something-or-Other-That-Starts-With-An-S in the Big House and focused on looking for some food. Halfway to an open-air gazebo or something—I think it's called a...pavilion—I really wished I had asked Will where to get something to eat. That's when I spotted two campers up ahead. One of them was girl with blonde hair in a ponytail and wearing a ski cap and a bright orange shirt. The other was a black-haired guy wearing the same orange shirt. I ran over to them and tapped the blonde girl on the shoulder. She turned around and fixed me with calculating gray eyes. "Hi! I'm Kassio Coralov! I just got here and I woke up in the Big House. I'm really hungry and I wanted to know if you knew where to get food!" I asked, smiling at her.

The blonde girl gave me a small smile in return. "Hello. You must be Kass, the girl from the hill. I'm Annabeth Chase and this is my boyfriend, Percy Jackson." She replied. The black-haired guy—Percy—gave me an easy smile and raised his hand in greeting. "What's up?" He asked. "The sky…?" I answered, suddenly feeling unsure. …The sky was up right? I mean…that's what he meant? Percy laughed. "Well, yeah, but besides that." He said. "I'm hungry." I replied and this time I swore that was what he was asking about. "Mm, well, I've got some snacks in my cabin. I could get you some and maybe, show you around? You'll like it here in Camp Half-Blood." Percy offers. "What's with the Half-Blood? What are we? Half-zombie, because that would be gross but really cool! Or maybe, half-unicorn! But that would make us centaurs-ish and that's a bit weird. Or are we—" I began to rant but Annabeth cuts me off. "We're half-god." "Well…I suppose that's pretty cool too but I think half-zombies would've been awesome…"

xxx

Annabeth and Percy showed me all around camp. There was a rock-climbing wall that spat lava and made miniature earthquakes while you climbed up. There was the Pegasus Stables where I met with Silver Storm, Aris's Latin-speaking horse. Apparently, Silver Storm could speak Greek too, because we talked about how awesome ducks and rainbows were. We also had a conversation about my hair and I told him that Nico had said it was disgusting. That made Silver Storm let out a laugh that sounded like a snort and a neigh mixed together. He told me my hair was pretty strange-looking but it matched my personality. I had thanked him for it but Annabeth—who had tried to keep up with our conversation—told me it might've been an insult but I think being insane and having weird hair was perfect all right!

Annabeth and Percy also took me around to the cabins of the other demigods. They slept in the same cabin per godly parent. I hoped I wouldn't be a daughter of Aphrodite. They were all giving me weird looks and if Rain found out, she give them the finger and Aris would probably yell curse words at them and this time, it wouldn't be in Latin. Hecate, Goddess of Magic, seemed cool. Tyche, Goddess of Luck and Fortune, seemed pretty good too but I had luck like a black cat. Morpheus—God of Dreams—was pretty awesome but the cabin sort-of scared me. Iris—Goddess of Rainbows—was the best though. There were rainbows everywhere and the head counsellor, Butch, was really nice. He said that if I turned out to be a daughter of Iris, he'd let me paint a Nyan Cat on my side of the cabin!

Percy gave me some sort of seaweed, salty chips to eat and I wondered if—just because he was the son of Poseidon—he had to eat seafood or seafood-tasting stuff because if you were allergic to shellfish, that would suck for you. Percy assured me that wasn't the case though. Annabeth took my mind off it by letting me shop for deadly weapons. I picked out two revolvers but Annabeth also pointed out the red Swiss Army Knife in my pocket. I took it out and pressed the logo by accident when a foot-long blade made of what Percy said was celestial bronze, came out of the tip. Celestial Bronze killed monsters easily and it was really rare.

After that, Annabeth helped me train and fight. I lost about fifteen times straight before Percy suggested we go to Canoe Lake. When we got there, the water nymphs—Naiads—pulled me into the lake to show me how to make seashell necklaces and weave things underwater. I nearly drowned a few times and Percy had to cast water bubbles to help me breathe. I came out of the water soaking wet and Annabeth went to get me the luggage Nico had brought from home for us using something called Shadow Travel where you used shadows for portals. It must've been very dark and I wonder what Rain said to make him get our stuff.

I changed into rainbows-striped leggings, a sparkly white shirt, my mismatched Converse, and my blue cat-eared hoodie. Annabeth had said I looked like a five-year-old and Percy was too busy laughing to say what he thought but I heard something like, "Might as well be a rainbow for Halloween." I told Annabeth that I was trying to dress like Magnus Bane, a Warlock from the Mortal Instruments but she hadn't said another word about it.

After showing me around the rest of camp, I heard the conch horn sound and Annabeth and Percy told me to ahead to the giant gazebo thing—I'm pretty sure it is a pavilion—so I ran all the way there, singing the 'Mental Girls' song—a parody Rain, Aris, and I had made of the song Downtown Girls. Everyone probably thought I was psycho but I didn't really care. PSYCHO AND PROUD!

xxx

After dinner was done, the Apollo campers announced that it was 'Campfire Sing-along' at the Amphitheatre—which sounded a bit too flammable to be doing a campfire in—and all the campers ran out of the dining pavilion. Aris seemed to drag behind everyone and Rain and Nico were talking in whispers behind her. I ran to catch up with her and tried to cheer her up. "Aris, come on! We'll be late and Will Solstice won't be happy!" I exclaimed. Aris sighed and jogged a little faster to keep up with me. "Kass, we aren't going to be late. What do you think we are? Snails? We walk much faster than that. Besides, it's not Will Solstice. It's Will Solace." She corrected me, sighing exasperatedly. "Same thing," I say, waving her correction away. "Solace is means comfort or giving someone comfort or relief of emotions. Solstice is the longest or shortest day. They're completely different." Aris mutters, dragging even further behind.

I grab her arm and drag her forward with me. Aris is groaning and moaning stuff like, "Te pedicabo, Kassio Coralov." I have a feeling it's not very nice so I don't ask what it means. "Stultus cacas," I hear her mutter when we're just a few feet from the amphitheatre. Aris straightens up and I let her go. We walk into the clearing and suddenly, I can feel glowing and hear gasps. Everyone in the amphitheatre is staring at us. "What's going on?" I ask, looking at Rain for answers. Aris grabs my wrists and points above my head. "…Kassie Cat, don't freak out. There's a rainbow over your head." She says, her tone trying to soothe me. "WHERE?! I wanna see!" I exclaim and then I realize that Aris has something over her head too. I begin to giggle. "Aris, your hair is on fire." I remark and Aris lets out a scream—she's pyrophobic—until she sees my expression.

"What's on my head?!" Aris demands. "It's two torches," I answer. "Two torches means what exactly?" She asks. Chiron—the scary centaur activities director—kneels down and everyone follows in suit. "Hail, Kassio Coralov, daughter of Iris—Goddess of Rainbows," Chiron announces and he sounds like he's speaking at my funeral. Then, he turns to Aris. "Hail, Aris Nightlark, daughter of Hecate—Goddess of Magic," He pronounces and his eyes are dark when he says it. Aris takes a step back and then, glares at Chiron. She spins on her heel and faces Rain with a look that could kill.

"…Is that what you and Mom were keeping from me? That you aren't my sister? That I'm not her daughter?" Aris snarled and her hands curl into fists. Rain opens her mouth but nothing comes out. I can hear Aris's voice shake and I know she's holding back tears because she's shaking from head to toe. "You both really fooled me. You really were a better liar than I gave you credit for, Rainy." She said and this time, her voice was colder than ice. The campfire turned dark blue—almost black—as she said it and I remembered that the campfire mimicked the emotions of everyone around it.

Aris took out a throwing knife, given to her by Rain during the battle at the bottom of Half-Blood Hill, and I freeze for a second. I expect her to throw it at Rain when she raises her arm but instead, the knife flies downwards and falls with a small 'thump' on the ground. "By the way, just like you, I don't need this. Thanks anyway, Rain." Aris hisses and I can hear the hidden insult. Like the knife, Aris didn't need her and instead of 'sis' or 'older sister', it was just Rain. Rain looked like she wanted to say something but Aris turned away.

"I'm making the campfire turn black. I'll go then. No need to ruin your fun, right?" Aris says and when she looks back at Rain, her eyes could freeze Hades over. There wasn't anything in her blue-violet eyes and her tone was hollow. Before Aris runs away, Rain runs towards her and catches her wrist. "I wasn't lying when I called you my sister. I didn't know." Rain whispered but Aris tugged her wrist out of Rain's grasp and ran for it. But even when she was out of sight, the fire still blazed black.

xxx

-Aris-

I couldn't see anymore. I was crying and crying, tripping on my feet and nearly banging into trees hard enough to give myself a concussion. I'm tripping around like drunk when I get to Canoe Lake. The Naiads look at me and pull me into the water. I don't fight it. The cold doesn't bother me and the water should mask my tears. I sit down in the water, using a water repellent spell to keep me dry. The Naiads are cooing and braiding my hair with sea flowers and shells. It soothing and I lean into their touch. I fall asleep and wake up to the dawn.

It's beautiful, for just a minute, until everything crashing down on me. Reality takes set and I get up. The Naiads had braided my hair, hung my clothes to dry, changed me into a sea-green dress with a cute white cardigan and mid-leg white socks to keep me warm. My boots are still on my feet and I'm glad for it. I stare into the water and my face looks like a hag. I have dark shadows under my eyes, I'm too pale to be healthy, my lips are almost white from the cold, and my eyes look like they sunk into my skull. I was a complete wreck but I felt much worse than I looked. I thanked the Naiads and I started running again.

I'm not paying attention to where I'm going. The only thing that comes to mind is: Get out of there, Aris, before anyone else can see you. So, I run and run until I see the Pine Tree passed the magic border. It's Thalia's Pine. Will had told me her story during the tour. Wrapped around the base of the tree, guarding the Golden Fleece is Peleus the Dragon. I get closer and closer, still holding back tears, before I pass the magic border. It seems like I wasn't running because the sun is up now and if I guessed, I'd say it was six in the morning. I drop to the ground just a few feet away from Peleus and the tears start to come.

These tears aren't like the thousands I've had before. These tears are the rare tears I shed, the ones that aren't tears of joy or anger. They're tears of sadness, pain, and betrayal. I had lost so much ever since I had become a demigod. I gave up my 'mother', my regular life, and everything I had thought was true. My beliefs had changed and I had learned that those things people called 'fantasies' and 'fairy tales' were real and they definitely as amazing as they were supposed to be.

In just a few short hours, everything my sister and mother had told me was lies. I wasn't just a normal, ordinary, too-imaginative-for-her-own-good child. I wasn't some regular, twelve-year-old girl who couldn't face the fact she didn't belong in a world so mundane. I was a demigod capable of fighting monsters, speaking Latin, casting spells, and even more extraordinary things. I was special and different…like I wished I could've been. But that one wish took its toll. I was faced with the truth…I had been lied to by two of the three people I trusted never to do that to me. It was the horrible, ugly, and cruel truth. So, maybe, it was for my protection and safety. But I was sick of being treated like I was incapable of helping myself. I was taught to accept whatever faced me, get passed every obstacle that stood in my way, and stay strong. So, why were the two people who had told me to always be that way the two people who doubted my ability to do so?

Wishes were cruel things. They gave you what you want but they twisted it so that you still got a bad deal no matter what happens. I wasn't the only one who had learned that. Kass had learned it too whether she knew it or not. Kass was simple-minded, optimistic, and naïve. She thought everything would work out in the end. She believed in happy endings. That's why nothing had really touched or changed her. That was I had taught Kass. I always insisted that no matter what happens, she had to keep her chin up and keep smiling…to be herself and stay the way she was through whatever problems came at her. But she was affected as well.

Kass's dream was true. She had dreamt of a glowing symbol of a rainbow, a woman in a dress made of rainbows, and the gates to Mount Olympus and she had wished that they had been real and she could be a part of it. Now, she had gotten herself in so much danger. She could've died on this very hill I sat on. And ever since she had passed the border, she would never be able to live a normal life. She'd always have monsters after her. Kass might lose her innocence and naivety on the way and that was one thing Rain, my 'mother', and I had sworn to protect. I feared for her more than I feared for myself.

Cold, wet tears slid down my face faster now and the feeling of wetness slipping down my cheeks was alien to me. I was used to hot, angry tears that threatened to cloud my reason. But even those tears were rare. I didn't cry often. I tried hard not to show weakness, to be strong. Crying wasn't a sign of being weak and I knew that. But I didn't want to be vulnerable in anyone's eyes. These cold tears were strange and I had to keep wiping them away as if to banish the stinging iciness that bit at my face. It began to snow and I cursed myself for being so impulsive. I should've brought a jacket because the cold was nipping at my exposed skin.

"Aris," Someone asked and I turned around to see who it was, hurriedly wiping away the tears before they could notice. The redness in my eyes would go away after a few seconds of not crying so I didn't worry about whomever it was seeing it. I never expected it to be Will standing there. He gave me in an easy smile and I was thankful for the fact that he didn't say anything about the tear tracks or my constant sniffling. Instead, he sat down next to me and smiled.

"You'll get sick out here, Aris. Honestly, you should've brought a jacket or something before you went running off." Will remarked as he dropped a thick, black snowboarding jacket into my lap. "Thanks," I say as I put it on. "So, wanna talk about it, Aris?" Will asked as I huddled into the jacket, grateful for the warmth. "You start," I reply shortly. "Rain really was telling the truth when she said she didn't know about any of this. She was doing this, lying to you, because she was trying to keep you from being hunted down from monsters. You should forgive her, really. It's not her fault. She was taking care of her little sister, you." He said.

"I know she was. I'm not mad at her but I needed someone to blame. I wish she had more faith in me but I understand why she did it and I'm not mad. But…I can't believe that I'm not—all these years, we were never sisters." My voice cracked and Will hugged me as tears began to flow down my cheeks again. "Hey, now, don't say that. You will always be sisters. Maybe not in blood, but you're tied together in bonds and that's something that stays. You could be nothing to her and someone else could be your sister but you'd still always consider her your sister because you grew up together, you loved each other like sisters, and you care for each other like real ones do. The fact that you aren't related does matter. Don't let it change how you look at her. She's still your sister." Will said and I nodded.

"I…need to talk to my mom. I need to know the truth. I have to know." I plead and Will nods. "You don't by any chance have a crystal and some sunlight spell, do you?" He asks and his smile is mischievous. I wipe away the tears and I laugh. "What are you planning?" I asked. "We're going to make a rainbow." Will answered and a minute later, we made one using a crystal and the rising sun. Will threw a drachma into the rainbow. "O, Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering! Show me… Karlen Nightlark at #35 Connecticut Road, Manhattan!" Will said, reciting my mother's name and address like he was reading it from the yellow pages. Suddenly, an image of a black-haired, blue-eyed middle-aged woman appears in the rainbow.

"Aris," Mom whispers and she looks disbelieving. "Forgot about your own daughter already?" I ask, teasing her. She laughs, a tinkling bell-like sound that I miss. "Of course not," Mom says. "I'm not your daughter though, am I?" I ask and her smile turns into a grimace. "Aris," She starts to say but I cut her off. "Answer me, Mom. I'm not mad. I'm not blaming you and I'm trying not to judge quickly. I'm not your daughter, am I?" I repeat. "No, you aren't. How did you find out?" Mom answers and I can see the apology and pain clear in her eyes. "I was claimed by my true mother whereas Rain had already been claimed by her father way before." I explain. "I contacted you so I could hear the truth, the whole truth."

Mom takes a deep breath. "You have to understand, Aris. You were too young. You wouldn't remember. It was twelve years ago. You were barely a year old. It was the day after your birthday. It was December 25th, Christmas. Your father…he died in a fire that happened in his company building. In his will, he begged me to take care of you. You were so small and we had constantly been seeing each other because you lived just a street away. I took you in as he asked and when you grew old enough and asked me who and where your dad was, I couldn't bear to tell you. I didn't want to hurt you because for those past years with us, you and Rain both thought you were sisters. I didn't want to admit that I had lied from the start. So, I said that Rain and your father had passed on which was true for both of you…in a way. But really, you're still family, Aris. You're still my daughter in your own right. You're just as much of a daughter to me as Rain and I don't ever want you to think different because I really do love you, Aris. Your father loved you very much too. He would've been proud to see you now." Mom said and her voice cracked at the end. "I love you too, Mommy. I love Dad as well and I wish…I knew. Was it his funeral that I attended? I barely remember anything besides a huge portrait of him next to the coffin and watching the coffin be buried." I asked and I hold back tears as well.

"Yes, it was. You two looked so alike, especially in that photograph. You had the same dimple on the left side of your mouth when you smiled. You had the same blue-violet eyes and the same sparkle in your eyes as he did. You both smiled the same too. Every smile you two gave came from the heart. You also had the same curly dark brown hair and mischievous glint in your eyes. Every time I looked at you, I saw him as well." Mom replied and I smiled sadly. "I have to go now, Mommy. I have to apologize to Rain. I need to make amends." I say and she nods.

"You two have to take care of each other and Kass especially. Follow your heart and let your instincts guide you. Stay strong, keep your chin up, and smile. Don't let anything change you. Remember what I taught you." Mom said and I nodded. "But lastly—and most importantly—don't forget that I love you, Aris. I really do." She whispered. "Love you too," I whispered and swiped a hand through the misty rainbow to cut the connection. Will gave me a supportive smile and a quick ruffle on the head before gently pushing me back to camp. "Rain's in the Hades cabin. I think it's time you tell her everything too." Will says and I grin. "What about you?" I ask as I retreat into the border. Will shakes his head and gives me a smile. "I'm right behind you!" He calls as I turn around. "Okay! See you later, Will! Bye, Peleus!" I run back into camp feeling light-hearted.

xxx

I run to the Hades cabin and burst in. I don't care if I wake Rain—though I doubt she could sleep—or Nico, because I'm sure that guy was nocturnal. Rain stands up from her bed like she's been electrocuted. "We're cousins." I tell her breathlessly. "I know." She says. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'm sorry that I blame you for everything. I'm sorry I'm such a bratty little sister who can't even be grateful for the fact that you cared enough to try to protect me. But I'm still your sister, no matter what. You aren't getting rid of me." I say and Rain smiles slightly. "And here I thought I could get rid of you." She teases and I run and give her a hug.

When we let go, Rain gives me a devilish smile. "So, I heard from a certain someone that a bunch of Aphrodite girls are bullying Kassie Cat." She tells me. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" My grin matched the one Lucifer might've worn moments before he fell from Heaven. "We really are sisters." I answer and then, we're out the door to go kick some lip-glossed, manicured, bratty Aphrodite chicks' butts. No one, and I mean no one, hurts Kass. NO ONE!

xxx

RAIN

"I'm making the campfire turn black. I'll go then. No need to ruin your fun, right?" Aris says to me. Her eyes were so empty, so cold. She turned to run away but I caught her wrist before she could, "I wasn't lying when I called you my sister. I didn't know." I whisper. But she tugs her hand away and runs. My body feels unstable. "Rainy? Are you okay?" Kass asks me. I look at her and my eyes feel lifeless. "Your eyes…they're turning almost silver" She says. But I turn away and I run in an opposite direction. "Rain! Wait! Where are you going?" Jake screams at me. "Does it even matter right now?" I ask. And I run farther and faster than I ever have. When I finally stop running, I'm deep into the forest. I sit down because my body feels like it's about to collapse. When I sit I realize that the plants that I've touched look a bit wilted.

How was that even possible? She HAS to be my sister. How could she have not been? We grew up together and we've lived our whole lives together. ARGH! I'm sick of all this! Why couldn't we have lived normal lives? Why couldn't we be normal girls? Our lives were fine. WE were fine. We were safe and we were happy! I needed to release this anger, so I went to the training site of the camp. I threw knives at multiple dummies, kicking and punching them until my knuckles were sore and bruised.

It was only when Jake had wrapped his arms around me that I had realized how long I've been at the training camp. It was late at night and the stars were out, but not even seeing the beautiful stars could lighten up my mood. Jake faced me around and when he wiped away the tears. I realized I was crying and it was that realization that made me cry even harder. I was sobbing and it was uncontrollable. Jake just kept rubbing my back and listened to me. "Why couldn't we have normal lives? Why did we have to be pulled into this? Better yet, couldn't they at least have had normal lives?" I asked Jake. "Raindrop, I know you've never wanted this life. But it's something we all have to deal with. I don't know how it happened that you aren't sisters, but it did happen. Now you have two choices, either you stay here and continue beating yourself up or you go to Aris and you tell her the truth; that you didn't know a single thing about it either." He says. I nod, because he's right.

I get up, give him a quick hug and run off to find Aris. I look through the entire camp, but I can't find her! I decide that if I can't find Aris, I might as well talk to my lying, scum of a mother who didn't tell any of us that tiny, little piece of information that was not oh-so important. I go to a place near the Iris cabin, knowing they have a bunch of rainbows scattered around there. I get a Drachma from my pocket and say, "Oh Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering." The bubble appears and there's my "mother" Karlen Nightlark of #35 Connecticut Road, Manhattan. "Rain Akantha Nightlark! Where have you been young lady?" She asks with calmness yet seriously. "Don't you "young lady" me! You lied to us and how could you make us believe that we were sisters?" I say. I don't scream but my tone is so cold—almost uncaring—that it makes her surprised. "What was I supposed to do? Her father, my brother, died in a fire when she was just a baby. She would never have remembered and I didn't want her to feel left out." She replied. "So you lied to us? You made us believe that we were sisters just so she wouldn't be "left out"? Do you understand what you've done? She probably won't trust me anymore." I say.

"What do you want me to do? What's done is done. I have no regrets in this." She says. "What do I want you to do? Here's what I want you to do. When this message is over, I want you to talk to Aris. Don't call her. I'm sure she'd call you first and you tell her every single thing you've been making me hide from her." I say. "She's so young! She can't possibly understand everything." She remarks. "I don't care! You tell her the truth! She may be young, but she understands more than you will ever know. She's smarter and sharper than you think she is. Tell her the truth. Tell her everything. And if I find out that you didn't tell her everything, we're not coming back." I say and I wave my hand through the mist before she can even make up an excuse. I turn around and walk back to my cabin, knowing there's no way I can find Aris. She's way too small to be found in this huge camp.

I go to the door of my cabin and twist the lock. The only way to enter is if you're able to move the skeleton in the right position. I enter and see that the room is lightly lit with blue fire. I go over to my part of the room, where my band posters, clothes, books, and other things are. Nico is already asleep and has his earphones on so I doubt he'd hear a single thing at all. I lay down on the bed, not even bothering to change out of my clothes. I just stare up at the ceiling, where I had that part of the roof changed to glass so I could see the stars. Well, of course Nico also decided that he'd have parts of the floor changed to glass so that we could look at our friends from the underworld from time to time. I looked up and I probably lay there for hours because I watched the sun rise and by 7:30 the door was slammed open by Aris.

When I looked up at her, she looked as bad as I did, eye bags and all yet her hair was pulled in a braid and she wore clothes like she was dressing for summer except for the huge snowboarding jacket around her. "We're cousins." She says. "I know," I reply. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'm sorry that I blame you for everything. I'm sorry I'm such a bratty little sister who can't even be grateful for the fact that you cared enough to try to protect me. But I'm still your sister, no matter what. You aren't getting rid of me." She said and hearing her say that made me smile a little. "And here I thought I could get rid of you." I say teasingly. She runs to me and I hug her. That hug gave me comfort and it made me feel better than anything else in the world could have. When we let go I give her a devilish smile and tell her what I heard some girls talking about right outside my cabin.

"So, I heard from a certain someone that a bunch of Aphrodite girls are bullying Kassie Cat." I tell her. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I ask. "We really are sisters." She replies with a smile that would make even my father scared. We run out and on the way I can't help but stop in the bathroom and fix my hair and my clothes. I retie my combat boots and change my black top to a dark blue one. I wash my face and my butterfly knife. I wouldn't want Hellhound blood there all the time. "So how would you want to scare them?" Aris asks with probably a thousand and one crazy ideas running through her head. "Let's play with their minds first, then we can go kick some ass and maybe scare them a bit. Oh, and maybe you can put some curses on them too, sis." I say. She smiles when she hears me say that and fixes her clothes that look so innocent, hiding the devil child within. She drops the jacket on bed before we go so that she looks even more innocent than someone like her should look.

We go over to the Aphrodite girls to see them talking to Kass. She looks like she's on the verge of tears already. I tap one of the girls in the back and when she turns around, her eyes sparkle a bit. "Look who came to join us! The dead flirt and midget witch," She says. The girls turn around and when Kass sees us, she runs over to us and hides behind my back, hugging me from behind. Aris rubs her back few times and then looks at the three Aphrodite girls with a mischievous smile. "What did you guys say to my Kassie Cat?" She asks sweetly, too sweetly might I add. "We just told the little scum that she's got too much pride for someone who had below average looks." One of the girls says. Aris closes her hand into a fist, like she's going to punch one of them. I put my hand on her shoulder and give her a look to say settle down. "Says the girls who compare only to a hag! Kass is much prettier than you'll ever be! I'm not going to call you a slut. I'm going to call you a penny because you're two-faced, worthless, and in everyone's pants!" Aris hisses before she takes two deep breaths and calms down.

"Listen here girls. You guys should probably keep your whore-mones down before I let little Aris over here kick your asses. One, I am not a flirt. You say that one more time and I will turn your faces into the face of an old grandmother. Second, you do not talk about Aris' height. Ever. She will probably turn you three into tiny little hamsters if you talk about it more. Third—the most important one—you do not hurt, speak, touch, or even look at Kass unless it is about praising her. You got that? And oh, you don't even want to know what we will do to you if you break the third rule." I say. And after all of that, all three of them decide to say one thing each.

One says "flirt", the other says "midget", and the last one says "walking crayon" and that does about it. Aris says, "Iungite." And suddenly it's like the girls are tied to the ground and can't move. I laugh and move to one of the girl's faces and gently touch her cheek. As soon as I touch it, her face turns into the face of an old hag. Aris laughs devilishly as I touch the faces of the other two girls. "Chiron will never let you guys get away with this!" One of the girls says. "Oh? What he doesn't know won't hurt him." I say sweetly. "Kassie Cat, do us a favor and go over there and tell the girls that they never saw anything and that they're all a bunch of ugly sluts. All right?" Aris asks and I know she's pissed because Aris rarely curses with that much intent. Kass smiles and does exactly that. We run off and laugh our way to the dining area.

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AN: Mwahahaha! 13, 517 words! Next chapter's up too! Review?