I know I know I disappeared again. I was on another vacation and it took me a while to finish this chapter. I took some advice given to me in reviews and changed the description POV so now its in Ariadne's first person instead of me just explaining what its about. So take a look at that and tell me what you think? :) I also made this chapter a bit longer than I have been making them (also a reviewers suggestion) So let me know how you like that too.
Make sure you check in at the end of the chapter because I'll have some more opportunities for reader input ;)
In the meantime, enjoy chapter seven!
Chapter Seven
I walked into the pavilion and saw everyone sitting down at tables. I didn't know what else to do so I sat down at an empty table. I looked around the room and saw that there were about twenty tables in all. They were all centered around a huge bonfire which some kids were walking up to and seemed to be dumping something into the flames. Tall, thin girls with long hair and green dresses were walking around and giving people plates of food. I wasn't sure whether to ask or if they would come to me on their own.
Just as I was about to try to get their attention I felt a tickle on my neck and I froze. One of my biggest fears is creepy-crawly bugs. I felt the tickle reach my shoulder and a black spider dropped into my lap. I screamed and jumped up, banging my knee on the table in the process and fell backwards towards the floor.
Instead of falling on the hard stone though, I fell into the arms of a curly haired boy with a funny looking nose and a mischievous grin. I don't think he had meant to catch me. More like he just happened to be standing right behind me. There was a big group of kids with him and they all started laughing their heads off. Another boy, who was a bit taller than the one who caught me but otherwise looked almost identical, pulled a string and the spider moved from the place where it had fallen on the floor and followed the string to his hand. As I watched them all laughing, I realized that this was all just a stupid prank.
I realized I was still hanging onto the first boy's arm. I shoved him away and stood up, brushing myself off.
"What was that for?" I snapped at him.
"For fun!" he said back. "Duh."
The kids all laughed some more.
"Well, it was a cruel idea of a joke." I said, getting back to my seat.
"Oh, wait," the second boy said. "There's one more thing: Unless you're a child of Hermes or undetermined, you can't sit there."
"Well I'm definitely not related to you. Hermes must have a sick sense of humor. What is 'undetermined' supposed to mean?" I was beginning to not like these kids.
"Do you know who your godly parent is?" The shorter one asked.
"Yeah."
"Is it Hermes?"
"No way."
"Then you can't sit here," The other said. "Go find the table for your parent and sit there."
The rest of the kids started sitting down and I decided to leave before I got more fake bugs up my back. I was about to start looking for Annabeth or Percy and that was when I realized the entire room had fallen silent and everyone was staring at me. My reaction to the Hermes boys' prank must have been louder than I realized and I felt my face flush.
Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I jumped, still a bit on edge from my encounter with Hermes spawn. I turned to see Annabeth standing behind me.
"Don't let Connor and Travis get to you," she said. "They always target newbies. Come one I'll take you to Artemis' table."
She led me through the mess hall to the other side of the fire place and stopped next to an empty table.
"Here you go," she held out her hand inviting me to sit down. "Since you're the only child of Artemis, you'll be the only one sitting here. Sorry about that, but its camp rules."
"Don't worry about it. I'm used to eating alone." I said remembering all the dinners I've had to eat by myself while my dad was at work. "Thanks, Annabeth."
"No problem." I noticed that she was a bit distracted, like her mind was elsewhere. I watched her as she walked towards a table full of smart looking kids all with Annabeth's same blonde hair and grey eyes and wondered what was bothering her.
One of the girls carrying trays of food placed a plate filled with bread, cheese, crackers, fruit and barbecue, which sort of seemed out of place but I wasn't complaining. I looked up at the girl to say thank you but when I got a better look at her face I realized she wasn't exactly human. She had elvish features like high cheekbones and pointy ears. The thing that really gave it away, though, was that her skin had a slight green tint to it, as if she had been dipped in green dye at birth.
"Thanks," I said. She nodded slightly then moved swiftly away as if blown by a breeze.
I noticed the campers getting up out of their seats and walk over to the brazier in the middle. Percy passed by my table on his way and explained to me what was going on.
"A sacrifice to the gods." He said. "We do it before every meal. We scrape off some of our food into the fire and say a prayer to our mom or dad as thanks. They like the smell."
I had heard of something similar in my Greek Mythology class. I decided not to question it and followed Percy to the fire. I walked up and used my fork to push a few grapes and a wedge of cheese into the flames. The food burned up instantly and dissolved into sweet smelling smoke and rose up into the evening sky. "Thanks, mom," I said. "Thanks for everything." I walked back to my table and it was almost as if I could feel her arms wrapping around me.
As I sat down, I remembered how hungry I was and didn't waste any more time before sinking my teeth into a leg of barbecue chicken. A minute later I had finished the leg and the elf girl came back and placed an empty goblet next to my plate. I wasn't sure how to get something to drink. My favorite soda was orange soda and I wished I had some. As soon as I thought that, the goblet filled itself with the orange, fizzy liquid. I tried to contain my surprise. I didn't want to make another big scene. I picked up the cup and took a cautious sip. It tasted perfectly normal.
It didn't take me long before I had finished my meal. Sitting alone wasn't bad but I knew it would get harder on days when I wasn't as distracted. When there's a lot on my mind, I tend to slip into my own little anti-social world and think about it on my own. Then there were times where I had absolutely nothing on my mind and I just had to talk to someone. It was usually the opposite for most people.
After dinner everyone moved toward the big amphitheater where a big campfire was lit and logs surrounded the base. S'mores kits were set out in various places and the campers were opening the packages of gram crackers and peeling off the wrappers of Hershey's chocolate bars.
I spotted Percy and Annabeth standing off to the side. They seemed to be having a serious conversation. Annabeth looked really upset and I wondered if it had to do with why she seemed distracted earlier. Her expression wasn't all sadness though. It was mixed with anger and confusion, like she wanted to know why this bad thing was happening. Percy was holding her hand and stroking her hair as he tried to comfort her. I could see tears starting to trail down Annabeth's face and Percy pulled her into a hug as she sobbed into his shoulder.
I must have stopped walking at an inconvenient spot because people kept bumping into me. I turned away from Percy and Annabeth and moved out of the way of the flowing crowd. When I looked back at them, Percy was watching me. I couldn't tell if he was mad about me spying on them or not but I quickly looked away and kept moving with the rest of the campers and sat down on a log near a bunch of kids with different shades of auburn and brown hair that reminded me of autumn leaves. The girl next to me was dressed in a sort of boho style and had hazel eyes that seemed to glitter whenever the firelight hit them. Her hair color was similar to mine only it was much smoother and had a slight curl to it.
"I'm Beth," she said as she smiled and held out her hand.
"Ariadne," I shook her hand. "Who's your godly parent?"
She smiled playfully and said "I hope I don't seem rude but whenever someone asks me that I like to make them guess. It's a thing of mine."
"No, that's fine." I said back. "I like guessing games."
I studied her appearance again, as well that of her siblings. I went through a mental list of all the gods and goddesses and crossed out things that I knew weren't the right answer. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades for example, wouldn't have this many kids. Besides, id already learned from Percy that there was only one of each.
I ruled out Ares and Aphrodite because Ares kids wouldn't be this nice and I figured a daughter of Aphrodite would be bubblier and slightly stuck up and definitely wearing more make up than Beth was. I also checked off Athena and Hermes because I'd seen what they look like. I didn't think it would be one of the minor gods because, again, there probably wouldn't be as many. That left me with Hephaestus, Demeter, and Apollo. I automatically left out my mother from the start because, well, for obvious reasons. I picked the one I thought seemed most likely.
"Demeter?" I guessed.
Beth's eyes lit up and the flower that was braided into her hair bloomed a bit bigger. "I guess it's pretty obvious but it's fun to have people guess anyway." She smiled again. "Can I guess yours now?"
I held out my arms in a sort of welcome gesture and said "Guess away."
Her hazel eyes sparkled and she looked me over. She noticed the clip in my hair and smiled slightly, just enough so the corners of her mouth were a few centimeters closer to her ears. I could tell she already made her decision but she kept playing along anyway.
"I'm guessing you're an only child. I would have guess Demeter for you as well because of your hair color, but your eyes rule that out. Green suggests that you're either Poseidon's daughter, which is unlikely, or you got our eyes from your mortal parent. I'm also going to assume that your mother is Olympian because none of the male gods have red hair. That leaves me with Athena, Aphrodite, and Artemis. You can't be Athena's daughter because they all have blonde hair and grey eyes. None of which you have. I'm also going to rule out Aphrodite, because they would never be caught dead in so little make up and so few accessories. So thus I have concluded that you are a daughter of Artemis."
I waited for what I knew was about to come next. But it never came. Beth just stared at me waiting for me to answer.
"So?" she said. "Did I get it right?"
I blinked. "Uh, yeah." Out of all the reactions I had gotten to that answer today (including my own) Beth's was least expected.
"You okay?" she asked, noticing my confused expression.
"Yeah, I just…" I decided to let it go. "Never mind."
Beth just shrugged and handed me a roasting stick, "S'more?"
"Thanks." I took the stick and topped the pointy end with a marshmallow and lowered into the smoldering embers at the base of the fire.
Something that my dad and I used to do every year was go camping. At five years old I learned how to roast the perfect marshmallow, at seven I was able to stake a tent all by myself, and when I was ten years old my dad showed me how to collect the right firewood and build a perfect campfire. Cool autumn nights with hot chocolate, s'mores, and a warm fire were always the best of my life. I looked up at the full moon and remembered one particular camping trip.
I was nine years old and this was the fifth time Dad had taken me camping. We had brought a tent but that year I'd been able to convince my dad to let me sleep outside. I'd spread out my sleeping bag next to the fire which, by then, had turned into glowing embers. I was gazing up at the stars and admiring the full moon when my dad came out from setting up his sleeping arrangement to say good night.
"Hey, Dad," I said before he went back to the tent.
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"You know how people say that they can see the man in the moon?" I asked him.
"Sure."
"Well, I don't think it's a man. I think it's a woman. Like a mother watching over her children while they sleep. Like mommy did when I was a baby."
I thought I saw a tear glisten in his eye as he answered me.
"And I'll bet the mother in the moon is watching you very closely, Ariadne, because she knows how special you are."
Now I understand why he said that. And now I know what my mom meant when she said she'd been watching me.
Thinking about it made me a little sad. Sad because, for one, I was away from my dad but also because those nights could have been spent with my mom as well Instead, all I could do was imagine her as the moon. I know why now, but then I remember being upset at my mom for not being there all those years. Now that I knew who she was, I had a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that I had known all along.
I was pulled back to the present when suddenly Beth yelled, "Your marshmallow!" and pointed to the end of my stick.
My marshmallow had caught fire and was now quickly turning from dark brown to black. I pulled it out of the fire and blew it out in one puff. Another technique I mastered while camping with my dad.
I wasn't a huge fan of burnt mallows so I handed it off to a Hephaestus kid who practically begged me for it. After that I decided to head to my cabin.
"Aren't you going to stay for the sing-a-long?" Beth asked me as I got up to leave.
"No thanks," I said. "I've had a long day. I'll see you in the morning."
I walked away from the fire light and into the shadows towards the cluster of cabins. Walking past the boat house I thought I saw a glint of light, like the moonlight bouncing off someone's eyes. But when I focused on the area, all I saw were shadows. I started walking a little faster after that.
So? How was it? I figured Ariadne needed another friend so I stuck Beth in there. I'm not a huge fan of the little "guessing game" but threw it in there just for fun. And now for the time where you readers get to help me write the story! *queue studio applause*
Okay so somewhere down the line I want to put in some romance between Ariadne and another boy. I was originally going to bring Matt (from chapter one) back in somehow but then I got a really good idea that I think I like even better. I'm not gonna tell you what it is though just to keep the element of surprise but I will say that I hinted towards it at the end of this chapter. Did you catch that? ;) I could also make it so that Matt does come back but I'll also play in my other idea as well to pull a little jealousy in there. So give me your ideas and I'll tally up the responses I get and pick whichever has the most votes.
I also want there to be a quest but I need help figuring that out too. I have a few ideas but I think it would be cool to see what you all come up with :) Let me know if you like that I'm incorporating your ideas or if you'd rather me write the story all by myself.
So thanks for reading and I'll wait until I get some responses to start the next chapter so it might be a while again.
Thank you my lovely readers and have a nice day/week/month etc. XP
~glamgirl16
