Hey People!

So glad to be posting another chapter. I hope you all like it. Please don't forget to review! I'm super desperate to hear from you!

Also, I know this is the first itme I'm mentioning this, but I'm including a disclaimer for all of my chapters which I should have had up first.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own PJO, BoO, or Riordan's characters. I don't own anything you recognize.

-c.c.


I woke up early the next morning, probably about four, my face plastered to a pillow caked with tears. It had been Annabeth and Percy, only older (like they should be). It was an entire dream of them staring down at me with strong disappointment. No matter what I did, no matter how much I pleaded for forgiveness, they stayed silent with the same look. I couldn't leave either. I was stuck in a room with my parents. I had failed them, and that was my eternal punishment. Though the morning brought me relief, I couldn't believe I had spent my first night crying over a nightmare.

I wanted to get up before everyone else. I hadn't been to a camp before, but I could guess that using the shower in the morning would be a different kind of nightmare. I sat up, careful not to make any noises that would wake the sleeping camper above me, and then moved to stand.

Honestly, it was a blessing to be mute at that moment. If I could talk, there would have been a flood of loud and obnoxious profanities coming from my throat.

I had stubbed my toe on a large cardboard box. It looked like it had a message written on top, but it was still dark and too difficult to read. I worked at readjusting my eyes until I could finally make out the words. It read:

WELCOME TO CAMP :) , can't wait to get to know you!

-Much Love, Piper and the Girl's from Aphrodite 3

I was a little stunned. Upon opening the box, I found so much. The Aphrodite girls had really thought of everything. There were clothes, under things, shampoo, towels, socks, shoes, even a little bit of make-up (which I had no clue how to use). I sat back on the bed and realized I was crying again. I never had the chance to own half of these things before. Heck, I'd never been able to wash my hair in the shower. I got one shower a month back when I lived on the streets. The tears flowed unyieldingly, and I was overcome with joy, gratitude, and shock. Aphrodite girls, of all people. I was so thankful as I grabbed some clean clothes, a towel, and shower gear and went to experience a proper shower for the first time in my entire life.

Let me just say this.

Showers are a gift from the gods.

I had never understood what the word 'clean' truly meant until after that exquisite morning. The water was warm, which was a bonus, and I SMELLED FANTASTIC. I was never going to go back to once a month shower schedule. Water was my new favorite thing. You could get it fresh and clean and cold from the faucet. I drank that up like there was no tomorrow. Being under it was amazing. I loved how it hit the back of my head and neck like forceful rain. It was really invigorating.

And I hate myself a little for saying this, but the clothes the Aphrodite cabin supplied me with were actually really nice. There weren't any frilly dresses or high heels or any of the things that I used to see Aphrodite herself in. That morning, I put on a pair of ripped mid-thigh cut-off shorts, a bra (that actually fit!) and a bright orange Camp Half-Blood tank top. With that on, I felt like I belonged.

It was coming close to 6:00 am, and the Hermes cabin began to stir. I didn't want to be caught up in the chaos, so I slid my box with my new belongings under my bunk and laced up some hiking boots. I tiptoed down the line of sleepy teenagers and walked out the front door.

I shivered as I was greeted with cool,damp morning air. The camp still looked asleep: everything was calm, and there was no one around. This was always my favorite time of day. The streets were less busy in the mornings, and I could actually go out and walk around. Mornings had been me time. Me, the big buildings, and the slow traffic which seemed to hum a continuous dirge. Morning here was almost the same. Only it was me, the trees, and a few birds who I could hear telling the waking world an exciting story. And it wasn't long before people started coming out to hear it. Well, I doubt they actually came out to hear the birds' story, but soon the yard was filled with campers attempting to be ready and awake for whatever the day had in store for them.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I turned around to see Will.

"Good morning."

I tipped my imaginary top hat to him in greeting.

"Wow," Will said staring at me, "The clothes from the Aphrodite girls fit you really well." He then blushed and looked away apologetically.

Will wasn't the best at being subtle, but I brushed it off. Boys will be boys. Then my stomach growled.

"Oh, breakfast is soon don't worry," Will said looking over to the dining pavilion, "then you'll start your first full day at the camp."

Gosh, it didn't feel like my second day. I already felt like I had grown up there.

"You know, you should find some people from other cabins to see what they do during the day. A lot of them do some cool things specific to their parents talents and it's fun to watch them work."

I nodded. That would be a good idea. I needed to get to know people.

"That's pretty much what I do all day, since I haven't been claimed," Will said dejectedly. I put a hand on his arm to show him it was alright.

"Six months is pretty long to go unclaimed," he said, "Hopefully soon, right?" He plastered a smile on his face again and I put one on too and nodded.

"Come on, let's go get some bacon or somethin',"

Somehow, Will and I got separated in the line for food. It was probably around when I got the fire altar. I knew who I should sacrifice my french toast to, but I was hesitant. In the end, morality won out, and I thanked Aphrodite for her daughters and their kindness. I couldn't find Will after that, but luckily, I saw Percy and his crew at the same table as last night's dinner, so I went and sat down there. He had Jason on one side and Annabeth on the other; I sat across from him instead.

I was feeling terribly confident for some reason and I began to sign.

Is there anyone here who paints?

And I guess the only person paying attention to me was Leo.

"Haha what was that?" Leo exclaimed as he sat down next to me. My face turned bright red, and I immediately sat on my hands and looked away from the table.

"No no no, do it again!" Leo asked, pulling at my elbow.

"Wait what?" Jason asked Leo.

"She did some weird stuff with her hands. Watch, do it again!" Leo screeched again. I couldn't cry anymore. I couldn't. A scowl made its way across my face.

Percy turned away from Annabeth and turned towards Leo, who was doing an impression of my sign.

"What the- Leo stop that!"

"No man you missed it, Katrina was waving some kind of magic over you and Jason. I mean it was-"

That was the point when my embarrassment became anger, and my anger became violence.

I caught Leo upside the jaw with my elbow and then went in to push his face into his breakfast, but I didn't get that far. Percy had been yelling, but what got me was when he threw a glass of cold water on my face.

I looked over at Percy, appalled at myself, and quickly signed, Thank you.

"Yeah no problem, but we have to work on your diplomatic defense a little more."

I nodded, while taking a napkin to my face.

"What the hades-" cried Leo

"You, you need to shut up Leo" Jason said.

"What did-"

"Leo," Percy said, "Katrina can't talk. She has to use sign language, so you need to stop being an asshole so she can stop giving you bruises, capiche?"

Leo held onto his jaw but made it quite obvious that he understood. Percy looked over at me.

"I guess we didn't explain that last night huh."

I nodded.

"What were you tryin' to say earlier before Leo happened."

I signed, I wanted to know if there was anyone here who painted. I want to try.

"Oh," he said, "um, that's a great question. Hey Piper, don't some of the Aphrodite girls paint?"

Piper responded after finishing her conversation with Annabeth, "Yes, but Percy they aren't really that great."

"Percy, you should know who can paint in this camp," Annabeth said as she turned to face him.

"I should?"

"What about your favorite Oracle?" She said jokingly.

"Oh. Yes."

Percy glanced around awkwardly.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare paints."

I signed back to him, Can I visit her today? Maybe watch for a while?

"Sure. Um… Annabeth can take you?" He asked as he addressed his girlfriend. She glared at him and he put on his best puppy dog eyes.

"Fine," she sighed, "I need to ask her about something anyway." As she said this she stared straight at me unflinching. I immediately became nervous. I'd bet a hundred drachmas she was going to ask Rachel about me, especially if Rachel was the Oracle. Luckily, Oracles don't know much about the prophecies they receive. I was just praying there hadn't been one about 'she who speaks not' or something like that.

"So, how did you sleep last night? I noticed you weren't at the game last night," Jason asked. I nodded and signed, I slept really well and everyone has been really kind. Percy translated for Jason.

"Well that's good," Jason said with a smile. "I'm glad you're fitting in alright."

I smiled back. Jason was sort of an awkward kid, but he was very considerate.

Percy and Jason then started talking, and I just listened. Listening was definitely something I enjoyed doing, which is lucky for me since I honestly can't hold a conversation that well. That morning at breakfast, I had learned about the sneaky Aphrodite/Ares team at the game last night and how they swept the competition and won the game after only half an hour. The games sounded like a lot of fun. Maybe that night I could try it.

"Well," Annabeth said as she got up from the table, "I want to clear out before everyone rushes out of here like cattle. Come on Katrina. Rachel should be in the Big House."

I got up and followed her out of the pavilion. The Big House, which I discovered was the white one where I had first met Annabeth, wasn't that far away from the dining area, but the walk was long and tortuous.

She didn't look at me or speak to me once. We walked briskly and in silence. There was a lot of negative energy from her directed at me, and it did nothing to renew my confidence from the incident with Leo.

"Rachel?" Annabeth called as we walked through the doors.

"In here Annabeth!" the Oracle yelled from a back room in the house. Annabeth started off immediately, and I had a difficult time keeping up with her. The house didn't look so big from the outside, but the hallways resembled a labyrinth. It felt like she was deliberately trying to lose me. That made me work even harder to keep up. Finally, Annabeth stopped in front of a room with a bright blue door that was cracked open just slightly.

"Rachel?" Annabeth said knocking on the blue wood. Suddenly the door opened and a bubbly face outlined in curly red hair showed through the crack.

"Oh hey you, what's up? You guys can come in. I'm just working on the piece from last week."

"I thought you said you finished it a few days ago?" Annabeth recalled.

"Oh, I didn't like it, so I tried again."

Oh my gosh. I was instantly nauseated upon entering the room.

"Goodness Rachel! I thought we told you to open the window! It smells awful in here. All of these paint fumes can really get you sick," Annabeth said with some concern.

"You're right I almost forgot!" Her paint covered fingers reached over to the window on the far wall and opened it half way. Then, she turned to me.

"Hello! I don't believe we've met. I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare," the girl stated as she reached her hand out. I took it with a smile and came away with a rainbow in my palm.

"Oh goodness, I'm sorry! I didn't realize what a mess I've made."

"I need to speak with you for a moment Rachel," Annabeth said sternly.

"That's fine," Rachel replied. She then glanced at me and back at Annabeth, "The hall then?"

Annabeth nodded and left the room. Rachel turned to me on her way out.

"You can look at those over there if you'd like," she said pointing to a pile of canvases in the corner. I nodded with a smile for a thank you. Then I was alone. I didn't want to think of what Annabeth was telling Rachel, so I walked over to the canvases and began to take them out one at a time.

They were drenched in color. I loved the abstractness. It was just color on top of color on top of color. The paintings were all different, too. They used the same style and paint colors, but each was unique. The paintings I looked at once in a museum were nothing like this. Each of those paintings was of a specific item or place, and they were more realistic. Rachel's paintings were of nothing. Well, I shouldn't say that. Nothing would be either completely white or completely dark, so these had to be of something. Maybe if we were each paintbrushes and our ideas were paint, these pictures would be an exact replica of the mind of Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

Then she was there. I hadn't noticed her come back into the room. All of a sudden, she was looking over my shoulders at her own work.

"Do you like them?"

I nodded. They were all really nice.

"Annabeth told me you'd like to try."

Again I nodded, but I was starting to become unsure if this was really going to work out. But just like that, Rachel had grabbed a new canvas and gotten it set up right next to hers. She put a paintbrush in my hand and led me over to the workspace.

"Now before you start you have to understand one thing," Rachel started, "Painting requires emotion and the willingness to just let go of yourself and get lost in your creation."

That sounded hard.

"You can go ahead and use my paints, just put yourself on that canvas." With that, she began to paint again and was completely oblivious to my being there.

I had nothing to lose I guess, so I picked out a nice blue that resembled her door and infected the clean white surface with a turquoise stain. I worked with blues and greens and a little bit of white and darker grey. It took about fifteen minutes to fill up the small canvas with color. I liked it. It reminded me of a picture I saw of a lake. It was like water, and I was actually happy with it. I was also fairly clean still, which made me proud. I stood there and waited for Rachel to see I was finished. It took a while. With a tap on her shoulder she finally turned to look.

"Oh goodness!" she exclaimed, "That definitely is something. And it's only been fifteen minutes?" She said with a worried look. "Are you sure you're done with it?"

I nodded. I didn't want to ruin it by tinkering with it more.

Rachel gave an exasperated sigh. "Well it has to dry."

I gave her a puzzled look and went to touch the paint.

"NO! What are you doing?" She exclaimed and grabbed for my hand before it reached the surface. I was so confused. Looking at her, I reached up with my other hand and touched the glossy paint. The glossy paint which was completely dry.

"Oh," she pulled back in apology. "Then you're done I guess." She spoke with a half disgusted tone. "I don't have any other small canvases like that, so unless you want to watch me work on this one you can go."

I didn't mind the harshness in her voice because I was ready to get out of the fume-filled room. I took my painting and waved goodbye to Rachel, but she was lost in her art again and I wasn't going to try and bring her back.

It took me half an hour, but I finally made my way out of the house and into the fresh air. At least I learned something. I'm not good at art according to Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Art was frustrating. Something that was beautiful to you was trash to someone else. Art was hurtful, and the industry was cruel. I didn't really like it anyways.