REWRITTEN! That took a lot longer than it should have...

Wow... Thank you so much for all the reviews/alerts/favorites! It means a lot ^^

Luke has as of now also been added to the poll ;)

Beta: trustingHim17


Chapter 6

"Blondes. Blondes everywhere."


Rox sighed for the umpteenth time. This was getting ridiculous, didn't they understand the whole 'staring is rude' concept?

One glance to the side told her they apparently didn't.

During the whole tour of Camp Half-Blood (read: wit), campers stared at her and whispered - "She's the other one" or, "That's her" and, of course, the ever famous one, "Look" - feverishly to each other. They pointed to the brass ring in her hand and some quickly looked away when they caught her eye, others just keep staring completely unabashed. Rox had noticed during the tour that most of the campers were older than her. The satyrs were also bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in those absolutely horrible, kill-me-orange, CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters.

She decided to, continuously, ignore them and asked, "So, Akilles, you've been here before?"

Daimon looked down at her from the corner of his eye, before looking straight ahead again. "Been here since I was nine. I'm a year-round camper."

Rox frowned. "When do campers normally get here? I mean, what age?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "That depends, but usually, most are around fourteen."

"Then why did you get here so early?"

Daimon slowed his pace, and something like sorrow flashed before his eyes. "My mother and I both agree that it would be better if I stayed here."

Rox didn't know how to answer, so she kept quiet. Chiron cleared his throat.

"And here, we have the twelve cabins." he spread his arms out wide, gesturing to the cabins nestled in the woods by the lake. As said, there were twelve of them, all arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. Not one building was alike, except for the large brass number above the door - odds on the left and evens on the right.

Number twelve had grape vines lining the roof and walls, but other than that it looked like a pretty normal cabin.

Rox pointed at the cabin and blunted out, "That's D's cabin, right?"

Chiron nodded. "Yes, the only two occupants are the twin brothers, Pollux and Castor."

"D has children?" Daimon must've nearly chocked on his own spit, his facial expression was rather comical (eyes wide and face slightly red with a hand holding his throat), as Chiron sent her a pointed look she quickly added, "That came out wrong."

Number ten was the very definition of Barbie's dream house. It had a pink roof and walls with a pink door, lace curtains and potted carnations by the window.

Rox wrinkled her nose and looked over at the Hephaestus cabin, number nine. The entrance was like a vault door, circular, and of thick metal. Rox could just imagine it open with a lot of gears turning and smoke hissing. Smokestack stuck out of the cabin, like a tiny factory or an over-sized motor-home.

"It must suck to have the goddess of marriage as mother," Rox said lightly.

"And why do you say that?" Chiron asked carefully.

"The poor man can't get divorced even if he wanted to."

The footsteps behind her came to a stop, which was followed by a thick silence as she whistled softly to herself.

The cabins all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flowerbeds, and a couple of basketball hoops. In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined fire pit. The hearth smoldered, even though it was a warm afternoon - but it was nice nonetheless.

Rox noticed a girl, about eight years old, tending the flames and poking the coals with a stick. She didn't look like a camper – she wasn't wearing that horrid T-shirt -, but appearance could deceive. She quickly let the thought go however as she caught the little girl's eye, who smiled in a way that belied her age, like Chiron with his all-knowing gaze. Rox looked back at the centaur and Daimon to see if they saw the little girl as well - they hadn't noticed anything - but when she looked back the girl was gone.

Rox blinked a couple of times. Had she imagined it?

They moved to the pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two. They looked like a pair, except for the fact that two was more elegant and feminine than one. They were both big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve. Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them. Cabin two was definitely more graceful, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.

"I can understand why Hera's cabin is empty," Rox said. "like Artemis', but why is Zeus'?"

"Artemis's cabin is occupied by the Hunters of Artemis when they are visiting," Chiron explained. "But Zeus' cabin is empty because of the oath he, Poseidon and Hades made. No children."

Rox tensed, but quickly made herself relax. "And the gods just changed?" she couldn't keep the slight bitterness and incredulousness from entering her voice - she was, after all, a living proof that one of them didn't. "After thousand of years of doing exactly that?"

Chiron cleared his throat uncomfortably, but didn't answer.

Rox was feeling generous today, so she cut him some slack. "Takes twenty-one days to make a habit, so I guess it's... possible." She looked around for a bit, before asking, "Why doesn't Hades have a cabin?"

All Rox got as an answer was a simple and uncomfortable, "He's not an Olympian."

Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers.

One of the cabins Rox liked the best was number five - it had barbed wire. The cabin was painted bright red and a stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway. She could see a bunch of tough-looking kids, girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared.

"Ares' cabin." she said.

Daimon nodded in agreement and whispered, leaning in closer, "But you might want to watch out for Clarisse."

Rox raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"She and her friends are the welcome committee."

"Ah." She didn't need anymore than that, already knowing how these kind of things worked.

"Oh, look," Chiron said. "Lee is waiting for us."

The blonde boy Rox had met at the Big House was playing something on the guitar in front of the last cabin on the left, number eleven. When they reached him Rox could clearly hear the wonderful music that he was playing - it was rather soft, yet energetic -, but he seemed so into it that he didn't even notice them coming.

A mischievous glint washed over Rox's eyes as a smirk found its way onto her lips. "I just got a sudden idea."

She quietly tiptoed up to Lee's side, bent down so that her mouth was beside his ear and yelled, "Look out! The Minotaur's come back to get revenge!"

A string on the guitar broke and Lee immediately stopped playing, looking rather frantic. He shot up like a bullet and ran in circles around Chiron, screaming something along the lines of "Hide yourselves! The Minotaur's back! Hide!" and "I'm too young to die! All the things I haven't done! All the things I haven't said! Goodbye, cruel, cruel world!". He then jumped to the ground, hiding under Chiron, while holding his guitar over himself and shaking like a leaf.

Rox cleared her throat. "Well…" she broke into a grin, chuckling, "that went better then I had thought."

"Roxanna." Chiron warned.

"Yes, sir?" she said innocently. Chiron sent her a pointed look and she dropped the act. "How should I have known he'd freak out like that?" She gestured to the still hiding and shaking Lee. "Honestly."

It took her a full five minuets to pry Lee out from under Chiron, and another ten minuets to assure him that she was kidding - the Minotaur wasn't coming back from the dead to get revenge -, which resulted in a glare sent her way and a sheepish look sent back with a small, "Whoops?"

"Lee," Chiron said, "I have pressing matters to take care off. Would you take Roxanna from here?"

"Of course, sir." Lee said. He sent a quick look Rox's way, and mumbled something inaudible.

"Cabin eleven. Make yourself at home." Chiron told Rox, gesturing toward the doorway, but then added as an after thought. "And no more…" he cleared his throat, pausing, and tried to find the right word. He failed in the end and said, "No more sudden ideas, alright?"

Rox smiled, but turned out to be more impish and mischievous than benevolent. "Of course not, Chiron."

She could clearly see it didn't settle Chiron's nerves one bit.

"Well," began Daimon. "I better get going, too. Got some stuff to take care off. Later, Rox. Bye, Chiron."

And then he was gone.

She turned around to Lee, facing the Hermes' cabin, which, out of all the cabins, looked the most like a regular, really old, summer camp cabin. Even then, to Rox it had a certain charm about it. Granted, it was rather normal, but that was maybe what she needed most right now. A bit of calm never hurt anyone.

The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was a caduceus, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. The inside was packed with people, boys and girls. They were so many that they out numbered the number of bunk beds, so sleeping bags had to be spread all over on the floor. It looked like some sad excuse of a sleepover taken a bit too far.

Chiron didn't go in, because the door was too low for him, but even then the campers all stood and bowed respectfully when they saw him.

"Be thoughtful, Roxanna, and good luck." Chiron said. "I'll see you at dinner." Then he galloped away, and the kids straitened up.

She walked in through the doorway, calmly looking at the kids. They stared right back, seizing her up. Rox knew the routine, having seen a lot of new kids at school through the years, both coming and going - the lucky ones who finally escaped. Plus, the fact that she may or may not have had a hand in scaring some of the new kids if she found them irritating enough.

But that wasn't the point.

Despite Rox having a bit of a strained relationship with the orphanage most of the time, she missed the usual ruckus and smell of food. She really hoped Mrs. Oswell would find the letter she had laid on her desk.

"Roxanna Fleur, meet cabin eleven." Lee announced.

"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked almost instantly.

"Unclaimed." Rox answered before Lee could, which earned her some confused looks along with some who groaned miserably.

"Roxy?" asked a familiar voice.

Rox craned her neck, trying to look past some of the campers, but she didn't find what she was looking for. She called out questioningly, "Percy?"

Suddenly a head of messy jet-black hair popped out between the campers wearing a big grin. "You're okay!" Percy exclaimed, eyes bright.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "'Course I am."

"Welcome, Roxanna." Said girl turned to the new voice in well hidden surprise, blinking once. An older camper had come forth. "You can have the spot right over there." He pointed to some bare space.

The guy was about nineteen, tall, and quite handsome with short-cropped sandy blonde hair and blue eyes, along with an athletic and muscular built. He had the look of a trickster, which made Rox immediately peg him as a troublemaker, but good-looking features nonetheless. The only thing that unnerved her was the thick, deep pale scar that ran from the bottom of the guy's eye down to his chin.

She vaguely wondered where he got it. Most likely in a fight, and if so, she had this funny feeling it didn't end too well.

"Hi, I'm Luke." The guy said, smiling. "Mind telling us who your godly parent is, since you know?"

"Hmm, no."

"No?" Luke said, suddenly frowning.

"No, I won't tell you." Rox elaborated, moving her weight to one foot, and crossed her arms.

"Luke, here," Lee interrupted. "is going to be your counselor, for now at least. So you've got to listen to him."

She stared flatly at Lee, definitely not liking this one bit. "Right," She drawled slowly. Rox let her eyes travel over the campers, giving off an indifferent look. Some looked sullen and suspicious, some were grinning and some were eyeing the ring Rox still held, as if they were waiting for her to put it down so they could steal it.

Wouldn't surprise her.

"Well anyway, nice to meet you all, but um, I have to check out the death trap of a climbing-wall." Rox stated, stars in her eyes at the mere thought of the lava sporting climbing-wall, and walked out the door.

. . .

Percy caught up to her after a little while, apparently having followed after her when she left cabin eleven. Rox looked around the camp, understanding why Percy, Daimon and she had felt a need to go here. It was a camp specially made for demigods - for them. But that didn't mean anything to her, even when people were among someone like themselves, they still managed to find something different. Exactly like at the orphanage, they were all orphans there, but they still didn't see her as one of them for some reason.

It was only now that she understood she never would - or could - be like them.

"So how was your first day here, Perce?" she asked, trying to clear her mind for the thoughts running through it.

"It was okay, I guess." Percy shrugged, but then frowned and mumbled. "Though I really don't like that Clarisse girl."

Rox raised an eyebrow and turned around the corner, looking at Percy. "What? You got into trouble with the Are- Uff!"

"Ow!"

"Roxy!"

Rox fell down harshly, scraping her right hand on a curiously sharp rock, and hissed. She clutched her hand to her chest, eyes screwed shut. "Styx..."

"Oi, look where you're going!" snapped a voice from in front of her.

Rox opened her eyes only to rear back in surprise and blink. Somehow, Lee had appeared in front of her- No, wait. The more she looked at the supposed Lee, the more she could see that 'he' wasn't even a he. Slowly, but surely, Rox could see the differences between Lee and the blonde haired girl. She was younger for one (and a girl), and her eyes were a lot sharper and paler.

Percy kneeled down at her side, knowing better than to actually try and help her up. "You okay?"

Rox nodded, still not taking her eyes off her target, and stood up. "Fine." She dug her hands down into her pockets.

The Lee-ish girl glared heatedly at her and stood up, too. "How 'bout saying sorry?!"

Rox frowned, already not liking this girl very much. "Why should I apologize for not seeing you?"

The girl spluttered, face turning red. "Well maybe you could look were you're going the next time!"

Just to spite her - and not really in the mood for this right now -, Rox said, "Not promising anything," and started walking past the girl.

But the girl Lee apparently wasn't having any of that. She reached out and gripped onto her shoulder, stopping Rox in her tracks. "What's your problem, new girl? Shouldn't you be a bit nicer?"

Her back had began aching again, and the sleepiness Rox had felt earlier decided it didn't want to go ignored anymore, making her cranky. The throbbing in her right hand wasn't helping any either.

She shrugged the hand off harshly and looked back at the girl, raising an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

The girl didn't answer, staring defiantly back with a high and mighty glare.

Rox stared, not about to let the other win.

"Guys..." Percy tried to calm the two girls, but was unsuccessful.

Then, a voice that cut through Rox's eardrums shouted, "What in the name of Athena are you two doing!"

She looked to the side, noticing another blonde haired girl making her way over to them. The girl, probably twelve, looked like your typical California girl - hair curled like a princess', athletic, tall, tan - but her eyes ruined the imagine, they were an intense shade of grey.

Rox glared at the blonde. "None of your business, Blondie."

"It's Annabeth." The girl snapped.

"Well then," Rox purposely stressed the words as they fell from her lips. "None of your damn business, Annie."

"Shut up, will you?" The Lee-alike snapped.

Rox clenched her teeth together, jaw set. She opened her mouth, about to insult the girl when a hand laid itself upon her shoulder along with Annalise's. Her eyes quickly found the hand and ran up the arm, finding it attached to a boy - slightly older -, who looked like Annabell's brother with the same shade of grey eyes as her but with lighter hair.

"Don't you think you three should all calm down?" He said firmly, a frown on his face. "Before you all stir up a commotion?"

Seemed like they already did, Rox thought vaguely as she looked around. They'd attracted a crowd. Most of them had come out from the Apollo cabin, which - now that she took her time to actually look around - seemed to be the cabin she just rounded... or tried to, at least. The Apollo kids glared at her. The other half all seemed to be Annie's brothers and sisters, every one of them with the same shade of stormy grey eyes. But they weren't glaring at her - they were all staring at the scene with a calculating glint in their eyes.

Rox didn't know if she liked that any better.

The boy, who had now removed his hand from her shoulder, raised an eyebrow at them.

Annika huffed.

The Apollo girl crossed her arms, looking down to the side.

Rox carefully smoothed out her frown and straightened her back.

"Come on, Rox." Percy said, as he pulled her away. "I think it's best if we leave."

Rox kept quiet, face a mask of neutral calm, as she watched the Lee-ish girl walk over to her siblings. She was waving her arms about, glaring at anything that moved as her mouth moved at the speed of a shotgun, but Rox luckily couldn't hear what she said. Probably about what happened, because most of cabin 7 was giving her the evil eye.

She let her eyes wander over to what she assumed was the Athena cabin. Annalise looked livid, almost likely to breath fire any minute now, and complained loudly about how Rox was incredibly disrespectful and whatnot. But the Athena cabin didn't seem as easily wavered and simply stared at Annabell or at Rox with a slight calculating look.

Rox shifted her eyes over to three new people. None of them looked like they were from the Apollo or Athena cabins, actually they all looked rather mean, with the same malevolent glint in their eyes as they looked upon the scene.

The one in the middle - the one Rox immediately pegged as the leader - was maybe thirteen or fourteen. She was a big, tall girl with long, stringy light brown hair, cold brown eyes and strong looking. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket, which helped making her look bigger than she actually was. It was a scare tactic, Rox noted briefly, one she could never use herself since she was so small - it would only make her look like a fat penguin. The steely-eyed girl had the same sneer Rox had seen in the Ares cabin, along with her two friends.

She caught her eye.

The other girl gave a nod and walked off with her posse.


Review please!