Hi guys! Thanks so much for the positive feedback! It really makes me feel super good about my writing and encourages me to keep at it! Special thanks to Kappasigma13, totalyteamLeo, and Venetiangrl92 for the lovely reviews! And to myperfectionismyimperfection, thank you so much for the wonderful review and questions! I'll answer some of them now for ya!
If I was a demigod (I WISH), I'd probably want to be Apollo's kid. He's my favorite Greek god and his kids are pretty darn talented. I also really like Hera, for some reason, but we aren't too similar. My actual parent would probably be Athena. I'm pretty book smart and I've never actually tried it, but I'd probably be a good war strategist :) and I love olives. And yes, I did think about how there are typically three kids per quest, but I just could not narrow it down to three characters! I wanted to send six, to be honest. I figured that since Apollo assigned Sana to the quest, that it would be fine. A little different, but fine.
Well that's it with my little blurb. I'll let you guys get back to the story. :)
"Where are we going again?"
"To the Oracle."
"And that is..."
"Rachel."
"WHAT?"
"Just wait and see," Tripp sighed. Nyle snickered at his friend. Sana shrugged but kept quiet. She knew that she was being a bit annoying, but hey, she couldn't help asking a ton of questions. She was still relatively new at this demi-god thing. They were heading up the stone path and into the woods. It was dark out, but the torches illuminating the path provided sufficient light to get around. At the end of the path, was a large, dark house. Sana shuddered involuntarily upon setting eyes on it. It was old and creepy looking, as though it belonged in a horror movie. Elle sucked in a breath through her teeth.
"I hate this place," she mumbled, slowing her pace. Nyle and Tripp continued ahead as though the house did not phase them in the slightest.
"Am I going to get, I dunno, killed or possessed in this house or something?" Sana asked, only halfway joking.
"Probably not," Nyle said teasingly. "No promises, though."
"Wonderful!" Sana said, sounding chipper.
Once they reached the house, Nyle opened up the heavy door and he and Tripp shuffled inside, followed closely by Sana, and then Elle.
"Ew, it smells in here," Elle whined, wrinkling her nose.
"Sorry, Princess. Next time I'll be sure to come in before time and freshen the place up for you," Tripp muttered. Elle shot him a dirty look. He looked back indignantly.
"Riiight,... Well, let's get this over with," Nyle cut in, diffusing the tension that was already beginning to grow before the actual quest had even started.
"Fine," Elle snapped. "Attic, right?" She said, pushing past the three and heading up the stairs. Sana glanced over unsurely at Nyle, who nodded and motioned for her to go. Sana exhaled and started up the creaky stairs, finding Elle at the top. In the middle of the dusty second story was a chain dangling down from the ceiling so that people could pull the attic stairs down. Nyle went ahead and pulled it, revealing the steps. From the attic came a faint glow of light. Sana wondered if someone was already up there, jumping slightly when she heard a cough come from inside. Nyle, Tripp,, and Elle all trudged upstairs, saying hello to whoever was already up there. Sana, realizing that she was being ridiculous for being nervous, shook her head and went up with them.
"Oh hi, who are you?" A girl with red hair and freckles greeted Sana as she emerged into the attic. The attic was large with a plethora of various items scattered around. On one shelf were a bunch of jars with what looked like pickled creature heads. Sitting next to them was a pair of fuzzy dice.
"Uh, I'm Sana... Nice to meet," Sana said hesitantly, extending her hand out to shake Rachel's. Rachel smiled and gripped her hand. Suddenly, Rachel gasped and her eyes glazed over. She tightened her grip on Sana's hand to the point where it felt as though she was trying to crush her bones.
"Wha- hey! OW!" Sana shrieked, trying to wrench her hand out of Rachel's grip. A green smoke like substance began slithering its way out of Rachel's semi-open mouth. Sana looked fearfully at Nyle and Tripp, who stared back intently, as though they were concentrating on what would happen next. Elle simply watched with a satisfied smirk on her face, as though silently saying haha! Better you than me!
Sana looked back frantically at Rachel, still struggling to free her hand, until Rachel began to talk. Sana froze.
"Daughter of Apollo," Rachel began, her voice sounding different and raspy; as though she was some ancient spirit. "The journey ahead will be one filled with trials of internal, as well as external peril. One of your own shall be subject of calamity. The quest to turn dark into light is not all that it seems. Restore balance, by all true meaning shall be revealed in due time. To thine self, remain genuine." Rachel gasped and released Sana's hand. She stumbled back a bit, closing her eyes. Tripp rushed forward and steadied her.
"I-is she okay?" Sana asked shakily, massaging her own hand and allowing its blood flow to get back to normal.
"Oh yeah, she's fine. Happens all the time," Nyle waved a dismissive hand.
"Oh... that stinks," Sana said awkwardly. Rachel took a deep, calming breath and open her eyes.
"Sorry about that. Didn't mean to freak ya out within two minutes of meeting you," she giggled.
"Oh, it's fine. I-it was pretty cool," Sana shrugged, trying to come off as aloof and calm as Rachel was.
"Well, I hate to kick you guys out, but delivering the Oracle's message always drains me. I'm going to hit the hay. Good luck on your quest!" Rachel said. The others nodded and headed back down stairs and out of the big house.
"Well, how about you girls go get some rest before we have to take off tomorrow. Nyle and I will go gather the supplies," Tripp said once they were finally back out into the cool night air. He rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"You sure you don't need any help?" Sana asked, lagging behind as Elle shrugged and took off towards her respective cabin.
"Nah, we're fine," Nyle grinned. "Besides, don't you want to go bond with your siblings before you take off on this huge quest, from which you may never return?"
"Not really," Sana gulped. Truth was, she hadn't really given the fact that she could very well die on this quest much thought. None of it really felt real to her. Plus, what if she really liked her siblings and couldn't bare the thought of leaving them, just when she finally found them? But no, Sana shook her head, her father assigned her to the quest and she had to go. Besides, she wanted to meet her siblings at least once in her life. "Actually, yeah. I'll go," Sana said, turning and walking down the path towards the Apollo cabin.
"See ya bright and early tomorrow morning!" Nyle called. Sana tried not to groan. She hated mornings.
Sana stood nervously outside of the Apollo cabin. It looked like an average, everyday cabin during the night time, but in the morning when the sun hits it, it becomes a blinding golden eyesore. The lights were still on inside and the sounds of laughing and chattering came through. Taking a deep breath, Sana marched up to the door and opened it.
"And then I totally socked him in the mouth!" A boy of about seventeen with messy blond hair and sparkling gold eyes mimed punching someone from the foot of his bed. The cabin erupted in laughter. The inside of the Apollo cabin was a vast improvement, in Sana's unbiased opinion, over the Hermes one. The cabin was large and there were about seven four-poster beds pushed up against the two parallel walls. Each bed was spaced out evenly and at the foot of each was a trunk to stash your belongings in. There were gold Christmas lights dangling from the ceiling and some wrapping around the posters of the beds. In one corner of the room were a few dozen bows and like seven dozen arrows, stored in a gold crate with a sun design on it. The back wall was covered in shelves, which housed various instruments and song books. All of the residents of the cabin were lounging on their own beds in various positions, but they all seemed to be talking to each other like it was some giant slumber party. After the laughter had died down, the Apollo kids finally took notice to Sana. She gave them a small, hesitant wave.
"Sana! Hi! We were wondering when you'd be making an appearance here!" A girl of about Sana's own age with long black hair and grey eyes sat up in her bed. She had a slight olive skin tone and her silky black hair was pulled back into a fishtail braid with silver ribbon tied into it. She gave off a regal glow, as though she was a Persian Princess. Sana recognized her as the girl that was talking to the boys at the Ares table. "I'm Elisha, by the way," The girl said, flashing her pearly whites.
"And I'm David," the blond boy who liked to sock people in the mouths said, grinning widely. Sana smiled and waved as she was introduced to the rest of her roommates/siblings, including the head of the cabin, Will Solace.
"Your bed is next to Elisha's. Make yourself at home because, well, this is your home," Will said kindly. Sana nodded and went over to her bed, putting her bag in her trunk and then sitting down on the surprisingly comfortable bed.
"Feels like it was made for you, huh?" David said, flopping down onto his back in his own bed.
"Yeah, it really does. Wow," Sana said, eyes wide.
"I'm sure you're excited to like, sleep in it, but you leave in the morning and we kind of want to get to know our own sister before then!" A young girl named Lilith who looked about twelve years old said. Sana shrugged, sitting cross legged on her bed.
"There isn't much to say about myself. I like chocolate and sleeping," Sana said lamely.
"Do you play and instrument or sport or shoot arrows or heal people or something?" Elisha asked, counting off on her fingers as she named a bunch of abilities that Sana certainly did not have.
"Uhm..no?" Sana said uncertainly. Her brothers and sisters frowned slightly, confused.
"You just haven't tried any of it yet," Will said quickly. Sana shrugged.
"Well, I can heal super fast. It's kind of crazy, actually. The instant I get a deep cut or something, it heals up," She shrugged again. Will furrowed his brow and Elisha widened her eyes.
"None of us can do that," David said in awe. Sana felt herself blush. Great. She was even a freak among freaks.
"It's a rare ability that some Apollo kids have. You're lucky," Will said.
"Yeah, it sounds really cool!" Lilith chirped.
"Yeah.. lucky me," Sana mumbled. "So anyways, do you guys have any family like, outside of camp?" She asked, changing the subject. Though, she was genuinely interested in their family situations, considering that she was an orphan up until she came to camp.
"Yeah. I have my mom and half-sisters," Elisha said.
"Mom and brother," Will piped up.
"Mom, sisters, and brother, and granddad," David nodded.
"Mom, aunty, and grammy, pappy, and my dog Caesar," Lilith grinned.
"That's really cool. You guys are the lucky ones," Sana said sincerely.
"Where's your mom?" Lilith frowned. Sana felt her face go red.
"I dunno. I was raised in an orphanage for as long as I could remember," Sana looked down at her hands.
"Sorry," Lilith said quietly.
"It's ok. I never knew my mother. She's probably not even alive," Sana said. Elisha and Will exchanged uncomfortable looks.
"Well, you have us as a family now," David said. "That's pretty rad." Sana laughed and nodded.
"It is rad," she agreed. Lilith tried to stifle a yawn.
"We should probably go to sleep now. Especially you, Sana. You have a big day tomorrow," Will said, getting up and turning off all of the lights. Sana smiled and snuggled under her covers. She'd never slept in such a wonderful bed. She sighed contently, momentarily forgetting what lied ahead the next day.