CALLISTA OFTEN PRIDED HERSELF WITH BEING FIT. Her father had beaten it into her that she was nothing; too dumb, too small, too weak. So, when she came to Camp, she automatically got rid of those things. She become smarter, faster, stronger. She was unstoppable.

But, then again, Apollo's training was useless.

Next to her, Thea groaned as they were ordered to do another set of push-ups. "This is pointless," she murmured beneath her breath, "We already know how to do this." Silently, Callista disagreed; but she kept her expression flat. Thea was a nice girl, and Callista would almost use the word 'friend' to describe her, but she knew how dangerous the demigod world could be, especially with so many scents. She was honestly surprised they hadn't been attacked yet.

From the front, Apollo clapped his hands together, stalking the area and observing them like they were fresh meat. They had been separated into three groups, each assigned a different body part. Obviously, Callista's group had been given arms; the next group had been assigned abs, and the final had been assigned legs. Parts of Apollo's conscious patrolled each group, calling out orders and assisting those who needed it. There had yet to be anyone who failed at a procedure, but Thea was awfully close, Callista could tell.

None of what they were doing was exceedingly difficult to her. Sure it had been ages since she last trained so hard, but the muscle memory was still there. She was only half a year old when her mother, Khione, left her father, but she still remembered the soft drawl of her calm voice, or the curt and icy flick of her tongue when she was upset. She remembered her dad, before everything went downhill, explaining every war story, showing her young but intelligent mind the correct form for push-ups or the correct way to hold a knife.

It all came back to her a flow of voices and phrases with each time she lowered her body on shaky arms.

She pulled her pale hair into a ponytail (which proved to be a difficult task, seeing as it was no longer than her shoulders). The girl behind Callista–Twyla, was her name?–had long, straight brown hair that tousled and tangled in the breeze. Callista wondered how she handled that without putting it up.

She came out of her thoughts just in time to hear the last person in the group finish. Sweat seemed to puddle around the group, making the air smell thick and their skin sticky. She shifted uncomfortably, careful to avoid eye contact with their Apollo. If there was one thing she learned from her dad, it was to avoid looking superiors in the eye; it may rile them up and make them hurt you.

Suddenly, a whistle resonated through the clearing. Thea, panting, clutched her ears, as did a few people surrounding them. The main Apollo, who had been roaming every group and commenting on ways to improve, stood straight up at the front. He seemed tired, and all his consciouses merged back into him. He looked slightly better, but still worn down.

"Good job," he yawned, arms stretching far above his head. "The Sun can't give me energy anymore because it's gone around the edge, so..." He seemed to get an idea. "We'll work on survival skills! To be a hunter, you must know how to be in the wild. Also, you have to learn to cooperate, so might as well hit two birds with one stone. Have fun! G'night."

With a single snap of his fingers, he was gone in an array of light, leaving thirteen demigods gaping at where he once stood. The only sounds were the crickets chirping as the Moon glistened through the cracks in the canopy of trees.

"So... what do we do now?" questioned Thea, it hung lightly at the burn on her neck. Callista sent her a glance, nudging her slightly. The daughter of Aphrodite put her hand down.

"Let's split into groups," suggested a tall blonde boy, a cheeky grin on his face. "Ah, I mean, by age or parent or something." Callista had never talked to him, but he looked familiar. Ashton, she recalled.

The crowd murmured and scuffled into messy sections, sorting themselves by age. A minute passed and a few people came to stand by Callista, one holding up their pinkie, the middle finger down, and the rest of the fingers up except the pinkie on her other hand. Callista remembered learning that in school, something about multiplying by nines.

The area quieted down as they finished separating themselves. From the front, Ashton, who was standing alone, thought aloud, "Um, maybe so some of us aren't as lonely we'll go into general age groups?" The murmuring began again as Ashton clarified, "Ages 16 and older will be Group 3, ages 14 and 15 will be Group 2, and anyone below 14 will be Group 1."

Another minute passed as people gathered around each other, asking for ages and birthdays. Eventually they managed three uneven groups.

"How about half of the 14 year olds are with the 13 year olds and the other half with the 15 year olds— uh, old."

They continued in this fashion until they eventually had three somewhat even sections. Ashton, with a final cheeky grin, told them to not stray too far from the camp but to explore the general area together. Then he half-jogged over to Callista's group.

"So," he started after a second of awkward silence. "Let's go around and say our names. I'll go first. Ashton Short, son of Hephaestus." He made a small motion to Thea, who was standing next to him. She blushed and beamed, "Thea, daughter of Aphrodite."

"What, no last name?" muttered a boyish looking girl to Callista's right. He hair was dark chestnut and pulled into a loose, careless ponytail. Small freckles and sunspots dotted her skin.

Thea looked offended. "I have a last name, thank you very much. It's Jones. I'm glad you took interest in me, though, " she added as an afterthought, fluttering her long eyelashes. The other girl glared and made another comment beneath her breath. Callista couldn't understand her, but apparently Thea did.

"You—" she gasped angrily, temporarily loosing her calm exposition. She then smirked, stepping forward. "You wanna fight, perra? 'Cause trust me, we can fight."

The other girl met her in the middle of the semi-circle the group had formed, scowling. If Callista looked closely, she could she a tinge of sadness in her green-brown eyes. She knew those eyes. She saw that emotion everyday when she looked in the mirror since escaping.

Suddenly she was between them, forcing them apart. Both girls looked angry, but it was more of a competitive type of angry. Still, as they returned to their original places, Thea said in a different language, "Eso fue divertido. Hagámoslo de nuevo alguna vez." Callista remembered the daughter of Aphrodite telling her that she knew Spanish, Russian, and Latin along with English. Callista returned to her former position, keeping her face stony and blank. Ashton was looking slightly nervous, obviously aware of the fighting yet unable to do anything about it for fear of backlash. One of the girls that Callista didn't know, the one who had remained silent throughout the ordeal, spoke next. Her voice was smooth and milky. "Faye Lancashire, daughter of Mercury. To you
style="font-style: italic; font-size: 16pt;"graecus, it is Hermes."

Callista swallowed and asked coolly (oh, the puns), "What is a Roman doing with a bunch of Greeks?" She kept her voice low and steady. Pausing for a fraction of a second, Faye responded, "More like, what's a bunch of Greeks doing with a Roman?" Despite herself, Callista smiled–a tiny, barely distinguishable grin that contrasted from her usual grim line. "Touché." They shared a secret smile before both expressions returned to normal.

"Josephine," muttered Faye, giving her friend a look. "Your turn." The abrasive girl from earlier (who was apparently named Josephine) said in a snarky voice, "Well, I find that rather unnecessary seeing as you just told everyone." Faye's expression was warning, along with the quiet, "Jo, c'mon..." Josephine sighed, and for the first time Callista noticed a fluffy orange cat at her foot. "I'm Josephine Hart, daughter of Dionysus. This is Crookshanks." She made an exaggerated gesture at the mewling tabby, sending Faye an exasperated look. "There, you happy?" Faye crossed her arms. "Very."

Sensing the tense atmosphere, Callista stepped forward. "Callista Snow, my mom is Khione." Ashton murmured, "Snow, huh?" at the same time Josephine muttered, "Snow, how convenient." Clenching her fists, Callista stepped back, keeping her head held high.

"So..." Ashton shifted uncomfortably, "Anyone up for dancing?" He flashed a sly grin at Thea, whose face turned bright red as she sputtered. "I–I, uh–" Josephine intervened. "Bleh, romance. Who's up for a game of tag?" Callista hummed in agreement (although she had quite enjoyed seeing Thea turn the color of a beet) and surveyed the area. They had barely moved from where they started, but by now the sector of the forest had been cleared out by Groups 1 and 2. There was just enough room for running, and it would help with their endurance, speed, and stamina.

Plus, Callista wanted to play tag. She had never gotten to as a child, what with her mother leaving and her father beating her up.

Ashton pouted, but nonetheless turned to Thea and, upon lightly smacking her arm, yelled, "You're it!" He took off running, weaving through the trees. Thea scowled half-heartedly. "I'll get you, my pretties!" she cackled in a croaky voice. She tried to tag Faye, but she had moved out of the way. Thea muttered a curse in Spanish, but the smile on her face was blinding. She darted off in Ashton's direction after tagging Josephine, who muttered a, "And your little dog, too," before following suit.

Callista watched them run, crawling up a tree to watch. The branches groaned but supported her weight as she surveyed the cluster of trees they were dancing through. A sharp laugh emitted from her throat. They stumbled and tripped over one another, smiles painting their faces through their panting. The image seemed unrealistic almost, that people so different could be so
style="font-style: italic; font-size: 16pt;"alike.A voice next to her spoke, making her jump discreetly. "Enjoying the view?"

Now that they were up close, Callista could see how Faye looked. Her eyes were a dark, malted chocolate, practically black. Her hair was like a raven's feather, perfectly straight up until the end, just beneath her shoulders, where it curled just slightly. Her skin was clear ivory, no marks of freckles or moles anywhere. The only scar visible was a white stretch of skin on her protruding collarbone, but even that was difficult to see because of her paleness. Callista wondered if people thought she was that pale.

Callista hummed and stared back down at the group. She hadn't noticed Faye missing. "I can be pretty quite when I want to," offered Faye, like she could see into Callista's thoughts. For all Callista knew, she could. She said as much.

Faye blinked. "Was that a joke?" Yeah, Callista wanted to say, but before the words could even exit her mouth there was a sharp scream from nearby. Callista perked up, eyes widening. The rest of the group paused in their places, confused. "What was that?" she heard Thea ask. "A scream, dum dum!" scowled Josephine. Callista didn't stay to hear them finish. She hopped down from her perch and took off running. The forestry blurred around her and she distantly noticed Faye sprinting next to her and then in front, expression determined. The others probably weren't far behind.

As Callista got nearer to the source of the scream, she heard a young voice murmuring, "Oh, gods, oh, gods," repeatedly. In a way, the voice sounded wet, almost as if they had been crying–or still were. Callista picked up the pace.

With a final stride, she broke into a small clearing. The first thing she saw was blood, smeared along the grass in a stain of red. The person who had been muttering was kneeling over a body, sobbing and gasping for air. That's when Callista realized something terrifying.

The body wasn't moving.

Ta da! At long last, your dear author has finished! Yay! Sorry this one took so long to get out. I have no excuse for my lateness, just the fact that I was lazy and very unproductive. On the bright side, it's almost Halloween! Yippee! Side note, me no ablo Espanyol. The entire Spanish part was Google translate, so if anyone is fluent in said language and is extremely offended... sorry 'bout that. What happened to the two people? Who are they? No, really, who are they? I haven't decided yet, but I have an idea. Any who, a commenter on FF reminded me to do the disclaimer, so shout out to Tawny613!

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or any characters in this story other than Ambrosia Feint. The universe is owned by Rick Riordan and the characters by various people. If a character resembles you or your family in any way, shape, or form, it is merely coincidence and not to be taken seriously.

There we go. Also, I got my red belt in TaeKwonDo last week, so yay to that! In addition, should I start responding to your guys' reviews? Is that even allowed? Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

xxUneditedxx

Signed, Judy Rush, Unclaimed, Slayer of the Chimera