A new layer of snow covered the ground. The morning sun shone over the treetops, lighting the valley. The year-rounders of Camp Half-Blood stood in small groups by a row of white vans, chatting excitedly. Two demigods stood away from the rest, leaning against the last van in the row. The girl was the only one of the half-bloods without a coat and a backpack. She shivered, but she didn't seem to care.
"Are you nervous?" Emily asked her half brother, even though the answer was clear; his face was a little pale and his palms looked sweaty. She didn't blame him, though. She'd be nervous, too, if it was her who had to steal two of the world's most powerful items.
"No, of course not." Luke leaned against the side of the van. The son of Hermes ran his fingers through his sandy blond hair, like he always did when he was lying.
Emily looked at the white camp half blood van longingly. It would leave for Olympus in a few minutes, but she knew better than to ask Luke if she could come; she was trying to prove to Luke that she was trustworthy, and that she'd listen to him. Emily had to listen to him; she had joined the titan army, and Luke was the leader (not including Kronos). Disobeying her older brother's orders now would be treason.
Chiron informed the campers that it was time to depart, and the teenagers filed onto the vans. Emily watched as Luke sat down next to a blonde girl that she didn't know. They seemed to be good friends, though.
"You're sure you don't want to come, Emily?" asked Chiron. Emily nodded. The vans left one by one, and the valley at 3.14 Farm road was deserted, except for one small girl.
Emily lay back on her bunk, glad to have some rare quiet time in cabin eleven. She had hardly had any time to just relax since she had come to camp. Other campers got to relax, of course, their cabins didn't constantly have random demigods living in them. That was all her father's fault. He had to be the god of travelers. It had to be his cabin that was used as a hotel for unclaimed campers. He had to go and fall in love with mortal women and have demigods with them. Her mother had to be one of those mortals. Emily stood, wondering what her life would have been like if she were mortal. She would never find out, thanks to Hermes.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the Titan Lord, who had, evidently, been reading her mind. Emily winced as she was forced to kneel on the cold wooden floor of cabin eleven.
Foolish girl. This is how you choose to spend your free time? Sulking about things you have no control over? Perhaps you are not fit to be in my army after all. The cold voice echoed, first in her mind, then around the room.
"S-sorry L-lord Kronos." stuttered the nine-year-old. The pressure of having the titan intrude on her mind made it difficult to utter even a sentence that short. The Titan's presence seemed to repel the little bit of warmth that had been in the room, and Emily shivered. She tried to stand, but found she was unable to move.
You will go and improve your weak sword skills.
"Yes, Lord Kronos." Emily was also worried about her half-brother. She wondered how Luke's mission on Olympus was going.
That is none of your concern at the moment, as you have orders to follow. Go now, before I change my mind about allowing you to serve me.
Kronos's presence disappeared. Emily had no time to be worried that he had just read her mind. She was sure that she wouldn't like the outcome if she did not follow the Lord of Time's orders immediately. She got her sword from the drawer under her bunk.
The daughter of Hermes searched for something to placate her shivers, but the cabin was too messy for her to find her jacket. Then she remembered that her jacket had disintegrated in the lava pool at the bottom of the climbing wall a few days before. Hesitantly, she grabbed one of Luke's sweatshirts and pulled it on. It was way too big, but at least she wasn't shivering anymore.
As Emily walked to the swords arena, she realized that she hadn't had a chance to get a good look at her stolen weapon yet; it had been dark in the armory when she took it, and she had been busy recently.
She drew her sword from its purple sheath. The weapon was pretty light, but she was small for her age, so it was well-balanced for her. The blade's name was carved in it in Ancient Greek: γρήγορος, Swift. Emily swung the sword. Its name spoke the truth: the blade cut through the air smoothly and quickly. Emily began to beat up practice dummies, using the moves that her brother had taught her, hoping that his mission on Olympus was going well.
