Well here is the next chapter, checking back in with Piper at Camp Halfblood!

Really would like some reviews this chapter. Maybe thoughts on previous ones too.

Disclaimer: I don't own "Percy Jackson the Olympians".

Her grandfather said that she had a voice that could call up the spirits, just like her dad had a... spirit that called up the spirits. She always did think that maybe grandpa was thinking of a last minute word-swap for something else whenever he said that, and now that Piper had to deal with her mom being Aphrodite? Well... maybe the truth was her dad just snared the 'spirit' with a million-watt smile and the body that got him so many shirtless scenes in "King of Sparta". Ew...

That wasn't the point anyway, the point was that Piper had a good voice, she knew she had a good voice. Now she was questioning how much of that was due to her powers. Now she was wondering if it was a good idea that she never got into the music scene despite her dad hiring a vocal coach when she was eleven.

In sharp contrast, now she was also wondering if she should've gotten into the music industry as soon as possible, sung an entire album of hit-songs that were overplayed on the radio, and saved herself and hundreds like her from the torture that was today's 'popular' music.

How her new brothers and sisters could stand it, she would never know. It was an autotuned mess of missed notes and obscene lyrics. So she rolled over with a groan, pulling the pillow over her ears, tried to go back to sleep. Or at least just ignore this garbage.

"Wakey wakey... new counselor. Come on, wake up..." Piper could hear Lacy's peppy voice, however muffled from the pillow that it was. Then Mitchell's voice joining in, along with someone singing along to the terrible song on the radio.

Maybe if she ignored them just a little long, just a little more sleep, and maybe someone would turn off the radio and she'd sleep forever.

Or maybe just until Jason came back. And Leo.

Drew probably not. From what Clarisse said, she might actually not make it back. Weird thing was, Piper didn't know how she felt about that. Apparently a Quest could be super dangerous... that made sense, in retrospect. When she first had encountered monsters, she had been thrown off into the Great Canyon. If Jason hadn't been able to fly, she would have died right there.

With Jason's powers and Leo's brains, well Drew could definitely survive, right? Yeah, that was... she had to. After all, Jason was practically a superhero with all his powers, and Leo had more gadget know-how than... well, anyone she could think of. So even if Drew did... and this was just an 'if', just a possibility, nothing that she was hoping for... but if Drew didn't make it, maybe Leo could make a replacement Drew.

But that wouldn't happen. Jason would save Drew if she was in trouble. And no point in feeling jealous about that, Jason saving Drew didn't mean anything. That's who he was, it was what he did. It was what she loved about him, that he'd save anyone and he'd always try.

He'd save anyone. Drew, Leo... her...

Which made Piper wonder how special that actually meant she was to Jason. If she was special to him at all. And thinking about that just made her hate herself for thinking so... like such a shallow brat. Like such a Barbie-doll, like everyone else in this dollhouse cabin with the... pink walls and the lacy dollies curtains.

That's what it was, this place was making her just like them, being in this house was poisoning her mind with it's perfume and it's pink and it's trimmed lace-

"-Lacey wait!" But whatever Mitchell wanted Lacy to wait with, she didn't bother stopping.

Which was unfortunate for Piper, because that turned out to be a bucket of cold water that soaked her pillow and blankets, making her feel like she was suddenly drowning and stabbed with little icicles because OH GOOD GODS IT WAS SO COLD!

So, when Piper came to her senses after what could only be described as a frigid out-of-body experience, she was tangled in wet blanket and sheets, looking up at all her worried new half-siblings, some still brushing their teeth and doing their hair, Lacy hiding behind Mitchell. Well, not all of them. The one with glasses, Tomas was still in bed, dressed impeccably and reading another book. It was exactly the same pose that he had been when Piper first came to the cabin. Only the clothes (sharp track-suit instead of kakis and a polo-shirt) and the book (this one was titled Seven Levels of Intimacy) were different than before.

"I... am so, SO sorry." Lacy sniffled. "You just needed to wake up, you're going to be late."

Late? What excuse was..? Oh no. Piper remembered she was at a Camp. She had activities, she had a schedule! Her schedule, it was on her bed still, it was a little damp-

"Oh no! I've already missed Archery, I need to be in Ancient Greek History right-"

Mitchell took that from her hands gently. "What? Oh, right, no not these things. You're late for the other thing."

"What?" There was something else? That was news to Piper. "What other thing?"

"Well, if you're going to be taking over for what Silena used to do, what Drew was supposed to do," Mitchell and Lacy looked to one another, smiled, and announced simultaneously, "then you need to prepare for mediation!"

"I have no idea what that means at all." Piper admitted flatly.

They all gasp. Shocked, appalled, distraught-

"You all know she wasn't here when Silena was alive, don't you?" Tomas reminded from his place reading in bed.

Judging by how everyone relaxed, a few laughing a little, no it must have slipped their minds. Piper was absolutely, beyond a doubt, certain that her siblings were the biggest bunch of idiots and ninnies that she had ever met, and she had met a bunch of dumb floozies and elementary queen-bees in her day. She favored Tomas with a wry smile that was meant to convey 'at least we're in this together, right?' He seemed to be smarter than all the others, hadn't seen a single book in this cabin that wasn't one of his. Maybe they'd even be friends!

Except, over his book, he shot her a look that said 'child we are SO not in this together and you definitely shouldn't believe otherwise', which... actually made her take a step back. What was his problem-?

"Well," Lacy shrugged. "Drew may only have used mediation for pairing up cute couples-"

"-but before she was counselor," Mitchell excitedly chimed in, "our sister Silena would, like, get people together and talk about problems."

"She'd manage affairs," Karol sighed wistfully, "and not just the fun kind. It'd be like, 'who got to pair up for Capture the Flag'-"

"Ares kids would always team up with Demeter kids, and the Hermes cabin would always be the game-changer because you never knew who would be on whose side 'cause half those kids were unclaimed-" Chad nodded.

"Oh, definitely moare than 'alf." Giacomo insisted in his theatrical fashion, accent on extra-strong. He appeared to be knitting or sewing something.

"More than half, and the numbers would be all uneven and stuff." Chad shook his head. "Not that it did much good when the Hunter's came around when we all worked together-"

"Who are the Hunters?" Piper asked, thinking it was a harmless question. It apparently wasn't, as every one in her cabin threw up their hands and scowled and a few even cursed. Giacomo, not even disrupting his needle-work, had a long stream of obscenities ready in what Piper assumed was Italian with bits of Ancient Greek. Seriously, if they were less forward thinking types, and less germ-a-phobic, Piper was sure most of them would have spit on the floor.

"Toadies for Artemis," Sydney curled her hair a touch more aggressively. "Think they're so much better than anyone else, because they're immortal celibates with superpowers. Probably all gay."

"Not that there's anything wrong with that." Natalie assured quickly for everyone's benefit, and there was a chorus of agreement from everyone else.

"No duh," Adrian, shirtless and extraordinarily toned, held up what Piper thought was an ordinary orange Camp Halfblood shirt. "This the one?"

"No way." Sydney and Karol both shook their heads.

Pouting, Adrian held up another orange (deep saffron actually dammit) shirt. "How about this one-?"

"Anyway," Mitchell turned the conversation back to Piper, which she was a little uncomfortable with in wet pajamas. "Since you're in charge now with Drew gone, you have a chance to take the mediation sessions back to what they were originally used for-"

"-and that's helping people with real life problems." Lacy nodded somberly. "And with new cabins, we have a bunch of new problems."

Piper thought about what Clarisse was saying, and about the kids she chased out of the camp store for stealing. She had said they were... "Eris kids?"

Group groans, though not as dramatic as there had been when the Hunters were brought up.

"... that bad?" Piper ventured, it seemed a pretty logical guess. From what she learned about myths just from movies, Eris was bad news. She may not have participated directly in the Trojan War, but at the very least she cut the brakes and watched everything speed out of control.

"They are the worst." Sydney swore, double-checking a highlight before further curling a loose strand of hair.

"No, Nemesis' kids are the worst." Karol insisted. "Complete neo-nazis."

"Their counselor is black-" Sydney pointed out.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Karol snapped.

"Well that rules out the neo-nazi thing," Tomas drawled, turning a page. "Rather important requirement. The word your looking for is 'fascist'."

"There's a difference?" Karol frowned.

"Italy was fascist," Giacomo sharply glared at her, "Rome was fascist in the same sense under Caesar-"

"Oh shut up, not like Rome is going to be a big deal." Karol rolled her eyes.

"Could everyone shut up? I can't keep all this straight." Piper massaged her temples, breathing deeply. She enjoyed the quiet before she realized she must have accidentally charmspeaked everyone. "Sorry, sorry, talk but... try talking normally and a bit quietly so I can focus? Alright... my new job isn't to manage this Cabin, it's to manage... other people's cabins?"

"Not really," Mitchell tried to stress, but at the same time Lacy was saying "Yes, totally."

They looked at one another, shocked they weren't on the same page all the sudden.

"We're not in charge of who the other cabins put in charge." Mitchell insisted. "That's always been up to the residents of the cabin."

"But if it's in the best interest of Camp," Lacy countered, "then Silena would definitely be for convincing some of the other people in the other cabins to put someone specific in charge."

"But not charmspeak." Natalie chimed in. "Only as a last resort."

"Drew wouldn't use it as a last resort." Karol muttered.

"She also kinda doesn't care what other people do," Natalie pointed out. No one disagreed with her.

"I only know a few cabins." Piper looked about. "I just got here three days ago, remember?"

"And she's in charge." Karol rolled her eyes, checked make-up in a compact mirror. "That sounds more than fair."

"Don't worry about it." Adrian smiled. Held up another orange (gamboge) shirt. "This the one?"

"I... not really." Piper shook her head clear of the interrupting color-wheel that seemed to have taken up residence. "I know about One-through-Twelve. How many others?"

"Don't worry about it." Adrian assured, staying distractingly shirtless without finding just the right shirt. "The Iris, the Nike, the Morpheus, even the Hypnos cabin are all sweethearts. Perfectly nice people. And Hades' cabin is mostly empty, only two people and the only actual Hades kid keeps wandering about so there you go."

"Shame too," Giacomo smirked. Sydney and Natalie also giggled, for whatever reason. Good gods, they giggled way too much in this cabin-

"-plus the Janus cabin is still empty, don't know why we bothered trying to get that off the ground first anyway," Adrian shrugged.

"He played a big part in the war." Natalie pointed out. "Probably wanted to show him right away that we wouldn't take him lightly. She knows about the war, right?" She looked to Piper. "You know about the war?"

"Yes." Piper found herself nodding. "Titans, angry kids who weren't claimed, everyone was fighting."

"Oh good." Natalie went back to her sketchbook.

"Hercules cabin is mostly empty too." Giacomo pointed out, the entire room getting a little somber at that.

"Yeah well... Cyril sometimes..." Adrian shrugged his rippling shoulders again, looking disheartened. "Yeah I don't know what's going on there."

"He's not around much," Lacy confided to Piper in her softest stage-whisper. "Hercules... er, he doesn't have a lot of kids, he's not around mortals enough and the last couple have been Greek, like full-on from Greece not speaking English at all Greek, not American. He might not even be in America-"

"-is Cyril Greek?" Adrian asked, frowning. "Er, was he?"

"Cyril's alive." Mitchell insisted immediately, "he's just... well he probably... he's got a lot of issues to work out."

"He didn't speak English when he came to Camp," Lacy shook her head sadly. "All Ancient Greek, with some modern, kinda jumbled together. He went through a bunch of relatives and foster-homes."

"Er, why?" Feeling a little alarmed, Piper suddenly was picturing a slasher-movie coming to life where a crazy, super-strong, seven-foot tall teenager with father issues came into Camp in the dead of the night to murder everyone.

"They all sorta... died." Sydney winced. Everyone pointedly bowed their heads, and in the corner where she had been organizing her make-up counter, Trinity quickly crossed herself out of habit.

"Monsters hold grudges," Mitchell sadly explained, "and Hercules killed a lot of monsters when he was just half-god. When he was granted godhood, all the monsters could really do once they kept reforming... well, it didn't... a lot of Hercules half-bloods don't make it through nursery school so I guess after that he just kinda..."

"... oh."

"Yeah..." Adrian sucked in a breath. "So... Hercules cabin, mostly empty?" Chorus of agreements. "Yeah, thought so too."

Still reeling, Piper blinked several times, trying to make sense of it. "Well-"

"-the really real problem children?" Mitchell narrowed his eyes. "Nemesis' Cabin thinks that the Camp needs to be a lot more strict and disciplined, and they're super mean. Like hall-monitors mixed with secret-police. Eris' Cabin just won't obey any of the rules and steal everything, cause all the worst kids of trouble, worse than the Hermes kids on sugar-rushes. And Hecate's Cabin? Well they're just sorta weird and they can't help when a few... spells and stuff get out of line."

"And I need to keep them under control." Piper slowly tried to wrap her head around that idea. "How?"

"Silena listened to people." Mitchell pointed out. "And she gave advice, and not just with relationships. I mean, she loved pairing people up, but she also helped new campers write letters home, and she organized games, and not just Capture the Flag, but party games and dances and picnics."

"Why?" Looking around at all the model-worthy faces, Piper frowned. "Why... why Aphrodite kids?"

"Who better?" Chad grinned. "Come on, we're lovers, not fighters."

"Peacetime is when we're busiest." Karol nodded. "Making sure everyone's repopulating and regrouping."

"Maybe you can help with the new kids," Lacy smiled, braces glinting. "You could pair them up and make them feel included, or maybe just give them stuff to do so they leave everyone else alone?"

"Why would they listen to me? I mean, why do all of you listen to me?" She almost laughed at the absurdity, but somehow Piper managed to contain her panic. Just a little bit longer in any case. "I just got here."

"You have charmspeak." Lacy nodded, in awe.

"And you were Blessed by mom." Mitchell nodded. "Not everyone gets a Blessing from their parent when they get claimed."

"I wish I did," Lacy muttered. "Maybe get my braces off early."

"And your muffin-top." Karol added.

"And your split-ends." Sydney chimed in.

"We all could use mom's Blessing for something." Tomas interjected coldly, stopping Karol and Sydney's descriptive list of all Lacy's aesthetic faults. From how quickly they shut up, Tomas had something especially biting prepared for if they tried to turn the passive-aggression on him.

"Point is," Chad put his very large, masculine but manicured hand on her shoulder, and Piper felt lighter despite the weight of it. "You're gorgeous, and obviously in Aphrodite's favor, and you have an impressive ability that only Drew had before. You can definitely command some pretty mondo-respect around here if you want."

That was... a pretty great feeling, actually. Well, it was a bit of a daunting responsibility, but that she had some people already in her corner, and having pointed out that she had a lot of things to offer? It was... a feeling of pride that Piper didn't realize she was missing. "I can do it."

"... yeah, but you probably want to towel-off or change first." Chad smiled a bit bashfully, averting his eyes. "Probably both."

"With a padded bra." Natalie grinned.

"... what? What, why?" Piper glanced around at all the giggling or embarrassed-by-association faces. "What's going on?"

"Headlights." Karol nodded tightly. "Headlights are what's 'on'."

That's when Piper remembered she was in a very thin pajama shirt and had been doused in freezing cold water. One moderate to severe bout of mortification and a quick change and gargle of mouth-wash later, she came out of the bathroom with her head held high, ready to take on this new challenge.

"... where are the mediation things held again?" She asked, feeling like a dumb newb again. "Do I go cabin to cabin or do I post a flier on a board-?"

"Both probably wouldn't hurt." Natalie mused, nodded. "Yeah, try both."

"There's a room in the Big House that's usually free, on the patio or something." Mitchell thought hard. "I think the tea-room or something?"

"Yeah, except Mr. D never drank 'tea' in there." Karol sniffed primly.

Where was the schedule? Piper looked for her old schedule sheet, it had a map and names of places on it... Ah, there it was. Problem was, whens he picked it up, it was soaked by Lacy's wake-up call, and the ink had started to run. "I still have no idea where anything is."

"I'll show you!" Lacy volunteered immediately, excitedly, like she felt like she had something to prove after that bit with the water. Piper wasn't going to pass up the free help, but Lacy latched onto her arm very quickly.

With a deep breath, Piper let her new... half-sister lead her out of the dollhouse she now was forced to call 'home', ready to face the challenges that this new and improved Camp Halfblood had to offer.

Actually, as it would turn out, she was not in anyway prepared to face the challenges, but at the time she definitely thought she had a grip on things.

Thank you for reading, please review.

Will still accept some OC's if you are kind enough to PM me their information. We'll be meeting a lot of characters about Camp next chapter.