Hey guys! I'm back! Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Rick Riordan's stuff.

"And that's camp, in a nutshell." Annabeth shrugged. She had just finished showing me around camp. A conch horn blew across the valley.

My head snapped around. I was afraid that some sort of attack was going on, but I put on my faintly curious mask. "What's that?" I asked coolly.

Annabeth was watching me carefully. "That means it's time for dinner." We turned around and started trudging back. Annabeth eyed me like a hawk the entire time. I eventually decided to ask her about it. "What's with the staring?"

"How do you do that?" She muttered.

"Do what?"

"That. Change your face. I can usually tell easily when people are acting, but with you I only have the smallest of hints to go by." She gestured at my face. "Like, for instance, just now you were anxious, but the only way you could tell was the way you turned your head and moved your hands."

"Oh. That." Annabeth was talking about my masks. Sh*t. I need to keep those up, not have someone reading my emotions no matter what I do to cover them!

"It's nothing." I said, turning towards the mess hall and trudging towards it.

"But I just saw- "

"I said its nothing."

Her stormy grey eyes narrowed, but she dropped the subject. "Okay." She started stating the many different architectural wonders of the world.

*.*.*

"Let's sing something!"

We were gathered around a bonfire, roasting s'mores. I watched in fascination as the colors changed from red to orange to purple to yellow to green, not really catching what that kid from Aphrodite had said. I was starting to feel comfortable here. As if it was home. "What?" I muttered, still entranced by the fire.

"I said lets sing something! Set the mood for your first night at camp." Samantha (the kid from Aphrodite) smiled. "Plus, I want to hear what kind of singing voice you have," she murmured, leaning in over Annabeth. "I can match you up with someone better that way." She winked.

I froze, every bone in my body protesting, screaming not to sing. I thought back to the times I had sung for Sofia.

Flashback

"Sing something Pepper! Please!" Sofia begged. Her green eyes looked up at me, begging me silently like only a seven year old can.

I laughed. "All right, fine. I'll sing."

"Oooh!" Her head snapped up. "Sing Landslide! Please!"

"Okay." I took a deep breath and began.

I took my love and I took it down
I climbed a mountain and I turned around

And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
'Till the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?

Can the child within my heart rise above?

Can I sail thru the changing ocean tides?

Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Mmm Mmm...
[ Lyrics from: f/fleetwood+mac/landslide_ ]
Well, I've been afraid of changing

'Cause I've built my life around you

But time makes you bolder

Children get older

I'm getting older too

Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I, I built my life around you

But time makes you bolder

Children get older

I'm getting older too

I'm getting older too

So, take my love, take it down
Oh climb a mountain and turn around

If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills

Well the landslide will bring you down, down

And If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well maybe the landslide will bring it down

Oh oh, the landslide will bring it down

When I finished, Sofia was staring at me in rapture. "What?" I asked, shifting uncomfortably.

"You sing pretty." She stated bluntly. "You should sing around people."

I shook my head. "No, Sofie girl," I smiled gently. "Just for you. Sweet dreams." I kissed her head and left the bedroom.

End Flashback

"Well? So what are you going to sing?"

Samantha's voice sharply brought me back to the present. "Nothing. I will not sing." I said, staring into the flames.

"Why not?" Samantha leapt at the chance to discover more gossip. "Bad voice?" she taunted, baiting me.

I wasn't stupid enough to take the bait, but Samantha was likely to twist the story so horribly it wasn't recognizable. So I shrugged. "I don't want to."

We kept at this for several minutes, back and forth. "Why?"

"Because I don't."

"Why?"

"Because I don't."

Then some other kid butted in from across the fire. "For god's sake, Samantha, drop it! She clearly just doesn't want to sing. And my ears are bleeding from the arguing!" the people around him murmured in agreement.

I glanced across the fire, taking in the kid who had said that. He had black hair and olive skin, though it was hard to tell through the fire. He seemed to draw more shadows than the rest of the kids at camp, and when he looked up, I noticed that his eyes were as dark as the night sky.

I nudged Annabeth. "Who's that?"

She stared at him, her eyes narrow, as if she was calculating his motives. Percy seemed confused, and he looked back and forth across the fire like he was watching a tennis match.

Annabeth answered my question. "That's Nico di Angelo-" her marshmallow burst into flames- "-son of Hades." Her marshmallow fell off her stick and into the fire.

I grinned. "Am I the only one who finds his name funny?" I muttered quietly.

She stared blankly. "What?"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, Nico means 'victorious people', and Di Angelo means 'of angels', so technically his name means 'victorious people of angels.'" I grinned lopsidedly. "And he's a son of Hades."

Annabeth, starting to understand what I meant, smiled back. "Yeah, that is kind of ironic, I guess." She stood up and yawned. "I'm going to go to bed."

Not wanting to be around Samantha anymore, I stood too. "I'll walk you there."

We trudged a short distance from the fire, and Annabeth snapped her fingers. "I nearly forgot, Chiron had us go to your house and bring your stuff."

I snapped my head around, and I looked at her. "He knows where my house is? How?!"

She shrugged. "I don't know, but we have a laptop, a photo album, a sketchbook, and a few other things."

I looked at the Big House longingly, but decided to go and get them in the morning. We trudged off to our separate cabins, me to Hermes (because I hadn't been claimed) and her to Athena. I curled up in my six square feet of space and waited for everyone else to fall asleep.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

After it seemed like several hours had passed, I determined that the entire Hermes cabin WAS asleep. I glanced around. Not a square foot was wasted, from the floor to under the beds to the closets. I tiptoed around all of the sleeping bodies and opened the window, quickly jumping out. I had never taken off my jeans, orange t-shirt, and combat boots, so I didn't have to change into outdoor wear. I walked to what Annabeth had described as the armory.

I examined it. It looked exactly like a garden shed. But when I walked inside, there was every weapon imaginable, from spears to bows to knives. I admired the selection briefly, quickly selecting some short daggers and strapping them to my waist. Then I left the armory shed and headed towards the forest.

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