AN: Here ya go.

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.


To say the things I saw weren't astound would be a lie. All around me, kids were sword fighting, climbing a lava sprouting mountain, racing trees… it all some kind of messed up dream. A dream which featured my Latin teacher, which I can assure you, does not happen very often. In fact, it never happens.

"Mr. Brunner?" I was sure my eyes were deceiving me. I simply couldn't grasp the concept of my teacher seated before a table on the deck of sky blue house playing cards with what appeared to be an undersized walrus in a leopard track suit. I stopped abruptly at the foot of the steps, staring with wide eyes at my teacher. Riley looked at me from over his shoulder before continuing up the steps, flopping down into a lawn chair and sprawling out in the cool shade. He crossed his arms and snuggled into his seat, closing his eyes with a contented sigh.

"Ah, Cassandra," Mr. Brunner greeted, a warm smile spread across his face as he looked up from his hand. He raised a weathered hand, gesturing for me to come towards him and the walrus-man. "Please, join us." I hesitated for a moment, because it wasn't often that I ran into a teacher while on break and to be honest, I wasn't exactly sure how I was supposed to treat them. Was I supposed to speak to them formally like how I should at school or was it more like friend of the parents? Mr. Brunner had always been a rather relaxed teacher but still… he was a teacher.

Slowly and cautiously, I made my way up the porch steps. I thought of standing respectfully, you know back straight arms at the sides and all that, but I decided to channel whatever remained of the real me, choosing to instead lean against the railings of the porch, bracing myself against my arms. Mr. Brunner smiled up at me from his seat.

"Well, I do hope you are feeling better," he began, peering at the cards in his hand before setting a card down. "I must say it was quite a surprise when Riley here carried you into the infirmary. Gave us all a shock, wouldn't you say Mr. D?" He looked precariously at the man sitting across from him.

"Yes, it was terrible," the leopard suited man agreed in the most bored tone I've heard in my life, and let me tell you, my classes are the most boring thing ever. He didn't even look up from his hand, staring intently at the cards.

Mr. Brunner smiled, turning slightly to give me a once over. "Do you know how to play Pinochle?" he asked brightly, gesturing to the card game before him. I raised an eyebrow looking at the set-up of the game, before shaking my head slowly. I still didn't understand exactly what he was doing here, at a camp with…satyrs…

"Ah, yes, well," Mr. Brunner nodded, "I am sure you will be a champion at it in no time. Your mother was when she was at camp." That certainly shook me from my daze.

"My m-mother?" I stuttered. "My Mom went to camp here?" I looked over my shoulder at the surrounding trees, the clanging swords, the kids playing volleyball… it didn't seem like the kind of place my mom would be, but for some reason, the idea of her being here seemed to work…

Mr. Brunner looked up in surprise. "Of course she did!" he proclaimed, laughing as though her question was absurd. "Where else would she have gone?"

I looked at him. "For camp? I don't know, I mean it's not like there are hundreds of summer camps in New York alone." My teacher looked me in the eye, all laughter gone, now replaced with an awkward seriousness. Riley even made the attempt to open his eyes to watch us, but only succeeded in squinting with one eye open. Mr. D took no notice of us, but I did see him trying to catch a glimpse of Mr. Brunner's cards.

"Cassandra, surely you've noticed that this isn't like every other camp," he spoke slowly, watching my face closely. "Your mother must have told you about this camp." His eyebrows were scrunched together as he tried to gage my reaction.

"Um, no actually," I informed him bluntly, crossing my arms. "In between designing buildings and being attacked while on vacation, I'm afraid she wasn't able to spare a minute to tell me stories about her summer camp. I'll be sure to have her tell me all of her summer fun tales the next time I see her.

"Oh, and speaking of being attacked while on vacation," I continued, my voice growing louder and stronger and thus much more irritated, "Yeah my Mom, who you seemed to know, and I were freaking attacked and almost mauled to death by some creature on the beach. Now, I know this might not be a big concern of yours, but I haven't exactly heard from her since this attack. So just wondering because she is after all my mother, but uh, any idea if she's, oh I don't know… alive?"

My breathing was slightly ragged from the anger boiling up inside of me. It wasn't often that I snapped at a teacher, in fact it had only happened once or twice… okay maybe three times, but when I snapped, I snapped. Hard. Usually the teacher I snapped at would either treat me like a three year old for the rest of the year or avoid me like the plague, but I have to hand it to Mr. Brunner. He didn't even flinch, although I was worried that his face may stay in that same expression for the rest of his life.

"Cassandra," he said softly, as though he was in a library and not the front porch of some summer home-esque house. "You're a very bright girl, something which you've gotten from your mother. That however is not as important as where your mother received her brilliance. Tell me, what do you know about your grandmother?"

"That's not an answer, Mr. Brunner," I said forcefully, stepping forward. "I asked if you knew what happened to my mother. I frankly couldn't care less about a grandmother I've never met, something that seems to be a reoccurring theme in my life."

"And why do you think you've never met your grandmother, or any extended member of your family?" Mr. Brunner continued, turning back to the card game at hand. He examined the board before placing a few cards down.

"What is this, a therapy session?" I demanded, my hands on my hips. "I want to know about my mother." I made sure to enunciate the last word, forcing out the syllables slowly and deliberately.

No one said anything for a moment, and the air was filled with an awkward silence, broken only by the sounds of campers on the grounds behind us. I sighed heavily, rubbing my forehead tiredly.

"I honestly don't, Mr. Brunner," I admitted. "I don't why I've never met my Mom's parents, but it doesn't really matter. Do you want to know why?" I didn't wait for him to say anything. "It's because my Mom is the only family that I need right now, she's the only family that's always been there for me, so I would really like to know where she is and if she's," I swallowed, "alive."

Mr. Brunner looked up now, smiling mournfully. My stomach clenched slightly. "We have not received any word from your mother, but she's resourceful and careful, and I do hope she's okay." I nodded wearily, my face falling, and I looked towards the ground, my hair falling in front of my face. "And who your family is does matter, especially in this instance."

I looked at him through strands of my hair. "And why is that?"

"It matters because you're grandmother, your mother's mother, is a god. A Greek goddess to be specific," Mr. Brunner divulged to me. "Your grandmother is Athena, goddess of wisdom and strategy. I must inform you Cassandra that the Greek gods are very much alive."

I couldn't help myself. I snorted before laughing loudly. "I'm sorry, I may have it my head once or twice Mr. Brunner, but uh, I'm pretty sure my grandmother is not a goddess of anything." I laughed again, clutching at my sides. "As for the gods still being alive, you must be kidding!" I laughed, waiting for Mr. Brunner to join me, even Riley would do. Neither one did. My laughter faded away as Mr. Brunner simply looked at me. "R-Right?"

Mr. Brunner looked back at his cards. "Well, we do have one in our presence, why not ask him?"

My eyes widened and I turned slowly to look at Riley, who smirked from his slouched position in the lawn chair.

"Not me lovey, sorry to disappoint," he cracked. I glared at him ignoring the fact his eyes were closed, before turning back to the card table. If it wasn't Mr. Brunner and it most certainly wasn't Riley (I mean, yeah he's attractive but not god-like) than that left… My eyes moved to Mr. D, who was slurping on a can of Diet Coke, a can which hadn't been on the table moments before.

My jaw hung open for a moment. "You're a god." A deaf man could have head the doubt in my voice.

"Yes, girl, I am," he answered boredly, not even looking up from his hands which seemed to be the most important thing on the face of the planet to him.

"You?" That got his attention. He looked up now, his eyes bright, and I could tell he was on the verge of killing me. His eyes were filled with fire, and I swore I could hear the screams of crazed men fill the air around me. I swallowed, staring into his eyes a moment longer.

"Do you doubt me?" he asked quietly, fingering the edges of the playing cards. I shook my head slowly, and the screams grew quiet as the fire died down in Mr. D's eyes, replaced instead with a cool purple. He turned away slowly, setting several cards down on the table.

"You're Dionysus," I said softly, taking a step back. "The god of wine."

He shot me a look one that clearly read 'duh'.

"Thank you child for telling me something I already knew," he shot Mr. Brunner a scathing look. "You said this one was smart."

"She's the daughter of Annabeth Chase, of course she's intelligent." I couldn't help but smile at that. Yep, he certainly knew my mom.

…..

Mr. Brunner decided it was time for me to see the camp in all of its glory shortly after our conversation. Partly because Mr. D chose to have a temper tantrum after losing his card game and partly because he felt the need to stand and reveal that he was in fact part horse, or a centaur to be politically correct. He thought it would be best if Riley took me away before I passed out again. I grudgingly agreed, making sure to maintain my distance from the boy.

Don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly okay with the idea of walking around near a beach with a very attractive boy. But when that boy is Riley, even if he is attractive, he's still too cocky for his own good. Everywhere he went girls practically swooned at his feet, blushing and giggling like idiots. It was sickening; I honestly thought I might be sick.

Riley, perhaps sensing the nausea I was feeling, finally led us away from the love-struck girls and towards a dock on the beach. It was the afternoon and the sun was almost blinding. It felt like heaven on my skin as I braced myself against the dock railing. I sighed, almost in contentment, and I felt Riley lean against the railing as well.

"So, if this camp really is for the mortal children of the gods," I began slowly, staring out of the water. "Whose son are you?"

Riley smirked, turning so he was facing the water with me. He raised a tan arm and pointed at the blazing sun. "That's my old man."

"A burning ball of gas," I asked bluntly. "That explains the ego, I guess."

"Apollo," Riley contradicted gruffly. "God of the sun, music, archery, poetry, prophecy,-"

"And egos?" He looked at me grumpily from the corner of his eye and I couldn't help but smile.

"Aren't you a little smarty pants, Miss Daughter of a Daughter of Athena?" he teased me, and I could hear the grouchiness in his voice. Obviously I had struck a chord with the ego jokes..

"So, if I am the daughter of a demi-god, does that make me a quartam-god?"

"It basically makes you whatever you want to be, love," he conceded, smirking at the face I made. I elbowed him in the side in retaliation. Hard.

"Ow!" he cried, clutching his side in pain. He bent over, hugging his stomach as he groaned. "That hurt!"

"I told you I would kick your ass if you called me that," I reminded him smugly, crossing my arms over my chest. "It's your own fault." He looked up at me through his bangs, and I forced myself not to flush.

"No, you said you would kick my ass if I called you sweetie, love," he elaborated, "and I most definitely called you love." I pinched my arm to refrain myself from smacking him. He goes from semi charming and pleasant to very annoying and crude in moments. Was his father the god of mood-swings as well?

"Listen buddy," I started stepping forward, "let's get one thing straight-" Riley broke in, straightening up to his full height and stepping closer to me, inches between us.

"You know you start a lot of your lectures that way," he announced. "It makes them seem rehearsed and bland. You should work on that." I raised a finger, my eyes flashing dangerously.

"You and I are not friends. Only people whom I considered to be my friends are allowed to call me anything besides Cassie. Since you are not my friend, you can only call me Cassie," I ordered him, poking him in his (firm, muscly, oh god… gods?) chest, enunciating each word. "Do you understand or would you like me to sing it to you or perhaps recite it in iambic pentameter?"

"Well, now that you mention it, I am kind of bored and music would be very ni-"

The waters surged beneath our feet, splashing up onto the dock as my eyes narrowed fiercely. I could practically feel the ocean inside of me, begging to be released so as to crash over and pull this boy away. The wind picked up slightly, pulling at my ragged clothes and stringy hair, and Riley stepped back an inch, his eyes wide with confusion and what I thought to be a trace of fear.

"Alright, yeah, sure, Cassie," he agreed, nodding his head shakily, his lips pressed together in reluctant defeat. "We are just friends so you are just Cassie. There's nothing else. With your name, I mean, you're just Cassie. And there's nothing between us either." He was beginning to ramble. "I mean there could be something, but no we are just friends. That's all. Just friends." His eyes were wide and he stared nervously at the wood beneath his feet, obviously fearing the possibility of the dock being swept away by the unusually angry waters.

It was actually rather funny to see the tough, cocky Riley squirm, funny and satisfying, and I almost began to tease him when a loud cry rose up from the camp, and I turned, looking curiously bawards the Big House.

"What was that?" I asked stepping towards the edge of the dock. Below me, I could hear the water begin to calm itself as I grew more and more distracted, the wind letting up slightly. Slowly, I began to walk back to the camp site, ignoring Riley who was muttering quietly to himself, trying to desperately to figure out what the heck had just happened with me and the water.


AN: I wasn't sure where I was going with this chapter but here it is. Hope you enjoyed it. There's also a link to the characters bios on my profile, so check that out if you want.

Signing off,

WiseGirl