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Temul read this chapter, gave me her honest opinion, and then made it so much better. I dedicate this to her unwavering patience with the mess that is me.

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Chapter Ten - The Status Quo

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As Dag droned on about the other cabins and the gods they represented I allowed a small smile to curl my lips. A smile filled with nostalgia, but mostly relief. It felt good knowing that whatever else changed around me I could always count on Dag to calm my mind. The funny thing was that he wasn't doing anything special or specific, he was just being Silas Dagwood. I had worried that when the truth came out he'd somehow stop being who he had always been for me. It was pretty ironic that to me, listening to a half man half goat-like creature talk about Olympian gods and mythological creatures, felt like the height of normalcy. Silas Dagwood calmed me down and made me think; made me stop and take a much needed, deep, breath.

I think it was because he was often prone to panicking about small things that it made me automatically calm myself down in order to soothe his worries and take charge of the situation.

Regardless of the reason it felt good to be even remotely in control of my emotions again. I could pretend 'till the cows came home and then I could pretend to the cows, too, but it wouldn't make a damn bit of difference.

The simple truth was; I was scared out of my fucking mind.

My eyes widened in horrified shock when I heard Mr. Vogel's voice whisper through my mind; 'That's because shit just got real, Sweetheart.'

Ancients beings like I suspected him to be, had no business talking like that. Seriously, he sounded like a bad impersonation of thug. He couldn't pull that off, especially not with that aristocratic accented voice of his that gave everyone around him the impression that his shit didn't stink.

I ignored the small tendrils of fear that curled in my gut at the thought of him having such easy access to my mind.

'Don't be scared, lovely one. You'll grow used to the sensation easily enough,' he said reassuringly, using his usual high-bread tone of voice. 'In time you'll even come to like it.' He spoke with certainty and conviction; as if he was saying the sun would rise tomorrow.

No matter how annoying it felt to hear his voice filled with superiority, it suited him much more than any other way he could talk. "That's better," I muttered, commenting on his return to normal, feeling anything but reassured.

"What's better?" Dagwood asked, as he cut off his lecture on Artemis' cabin and why she was the most beautiful and kindest goddess and definitely worth worshiping.

"Nothing," I sighed, reflectively ignoring the amused snickering that only I could seem to hear. "So, about Artemis, you were saying?"

"No, no, no," Dag protested, shaking his index finger at me. " I can recognize avoidance tactics when I see them. Especially coming from you," he added pointedly. "Tell me what's got you looking like someone's trying to make you see a Penelope Cruz movie?"

I reflexively grimaced in disgust. I abhorred that abomination of an actress. the fact that people actually managed to watch a movie she was in without killing themselves remained a mystery in both my life times. I had high hopes when I was reborn in this new world that she wouldn't exist, instead there seemed to be even more of her movies. Someone was very obviously trying to punish me for something I had done in some past life I didn't remember living. Some evil deed like kicking puppies or stealing candy from babies.

"I don't really wanna talk about it," I sighed, feeling more than a little exhausted. "Things are finally catching up to me, that's all."

Dagwood gave me a long and searching look before finally opening his arms and tilting his head slightly. "Do you need a hug?" he asked earnestly.

I gave a surprised laugh and nodded quickly. "Yeah, I kinda do," I mumbled before stepping into my best friend's warm embrace. Dagwood wasn't Percy, and he never would be, but he brought me comfort in a way, that at times, not even my brother could.

I stayed in his arms for a couple of minutes, ignoring the stares we must be receiving and enjoying his comforting arms and the blissful silence of a mind completely absent of any thought but my own.

"Okay, can we stop hugging now? My arms are getting tired and it's starting to get a little awkward."

I stepped out of his embrace with a happy laugh, giving him a punch in the arm. "Stop being a whiny bitch, Dagwood."

"Hey," he grinned holding up his palms in mock surrender. "I'll admit to the whole whiny thing, but the bitch part? That's all you, Sweetheart."

My nose curled up in disgust. "Ugh, don't call me that, I hate being called sweetheart."

"Since when?" Dag asked incredulously, with raised eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes and grimaced, "Since five minutes ago. You don't want to know, trust me on this one," I muttered. Honestly, I wished I didn't know I had an immortal with an all-access pass to my mind. I've said it before and I'll say it again; ignorance truly can be bliss.

"No, tell me," Dag insisted. "You got someone at school following you around calling you sweetheart?" he joked. His eyes widened when I winced. It was technically the truth. "You do, why haven't I noticed this?" he bit his lower lip, "I'm a terrible protector," he groaned.

"Alright, tell me who it is and when we go back to school I'll open one of my special cans, instead of eating it."

He did some strange move with his arms that I was pretty sure was supposed to look like a martial-arts move but looked more like Steve Urkel trying to dance.

"My special can of whoop ass!" He tried to do a high kick but tripped over air and landed on the ground. He quickly got up from the ground and dusted his clothes off, his ears and cheekbones tinged with red. "I totally meant to do that."

"I'm sure you did," I agreed dryly, eyebrows raised mockingly.

"Oh, shut up," he mumbled embarrassed. "Now tell me who's been calling you sweetheart behind my back."

I gave Dag a long searching look. I really wanted to tell him about Mr. Vogel. I was dealing with so much at this point, it would be a relief to unload some of my burdens onto someone trustworthy. No matter how he became my friend, no matter how much of a distrustful paranoid lunatic I sometimes was, I had a feeling I could trust Dagwood with this, and much more.

Book Percy had trusted Grover with his life and Grover had been a good and loyal friend to him. And, if everything went right for once, Grover would take the same place in my Percy's life. Luke having breasts and no sightings of Annabeth Chase was starting to make me suspicious that I had somehow landed in the Bizarro version of Percy Jackson's world, so it honestly wouldn't surprise me if this Grover turned out to be Kronos' long lost son and heir, or something equally ridiculous.

"You're my friend, aren't you Silas?" I asked solemnly, as I studied him like a bug under a microscope.

His eyes widened at the use of his first name. I rarely called him Silas and on the rare occasions that I did it was a sign for him to pay attention. He looked me in the eye; calm and collected, even under my careful scrutiny.

"I am," he almost whispered. "You can trust me, Rhea. As your protector, my first priority will always be your safety," he said evenly. His tone softened, "And as your best friend my first priority will always be having your back; in whatever way you need."

I nodded slowly and tilted my head slightly sideways without breaking eye contact. "Chiron assigned you to-"

"-Be your protector. Me becoming your friend wasn't because it made it easier to protect you; that was just a bonus. I became your friend because of who you are, and because of who I am. My loyalty is to you, as I know yours is to me. What you tell me stays between us. Always," he vowed fervently.

I held eye contact for a long couple of seconds before nodding decisively. "Okay," I whispered near silently. "Okay."

I didn't think all satyrs and demigods had such a close connections as the one Percy and Grover seemed to share, but I was now certain Dagwood and I shared one just as strong.

Dagwood gave me a small but warm smile. "Tell me," he said softly.

So I did. Nothing about my reincarnation/acid trip, of course. That secret I planned on taking to my grave, but I told him all about Mr. Vogel. About every one of our encounters, the things he said (or at least the ones that had nothing to do with my rebirth) and every other thing I could think including the fact that I was now apparently hearing voices.

"Wait, wait, wait... Mr. Vogel is a..." Dag paled, looking like he might toss his cookies at any moment. "Noooo..."

"Yes. And apparently he's chosen me as his Champion."

"Noooo," Dagwood repeated, still looking like someone whose entire world view had just shifted dramatically; and most definitely not in a good way. I could relate.

"Which god is he?" he asked looking almost panicked. "He's not Lord Hades, right?" he squeaked. "I mean, whenever Mr. Vogel looked at me with his glare of doom I always had this feeling that I would never be happy again."

I snorted before giving him an incredulous look. "Are you quoting Harry Potter at me? Seriously, stop overreacting," I muttered. "It's not like he's actually a Dementor, you know."

Dagwood grabbed my shoulders en gave me a small shake. "Are you sure?" he demanded. "Because I'm telling you, the guy creeped me out like you wouldn't believe. He's scary Rhea. If he's not Lord Hades then he's probably some other deity that has something to do with death...or torture...or any other unpleasant thing."

"The god of unpleasant things," I murmured contemplatively, "Now that I do believe."

"Is he very awful?" Dag asked tentatively. The grip he had on my shoulders loosened slightly and became something softer and comforting.

I sent Dag a look that screamed 'What the hell do you think' which I think he understood perfectly because I saw him cringe. It felt good to discuss my fear of the complication that was my Patron with my best friend. Even if I couldn't tell him everything, what little I could tell him was enough to make me feel better.

"No, I mean in your head. I know he's awful in real life but how does it feel to have him in your head?"

"Not pleasant? I don't know what you want me to say, Dag. The problem is the fact that he is in my head in the first place. My mind is supposed to be private, my thoughts are for me alone. I don't need running commentary from the peanut gallery every time I need to use the bathroom."

I wasn't sure what to say to Dagwood to explain how I truly felt about someone having access to my every thought, having that much access to...well, me. I had trouble letting down my walls around my own brother, and here comes this guy walking into my life who had the ability to read me like a manual for dummies. How was that supposed to be fair?

I gave Dag a concerned look when he started to look a little green around the gills. "He gives you commentary when you need to take a dump?" he asked in horrified shock. "He actually watches you go to the bathroom? How about when you shower, what does he say then?"

I rolled my eyes in exasperation at my best friend. "I'm just trying to make a point. As far as I know he hasn't been peeping on me, and I'm kinda hoping that he won't in the future."

"As far as you know," Dag said flatly, voicing one of my own fears.

I lifted my hand to my eyes and rubbed them tiredly. I hadn't been awake for that long but after the day I'd been having, I felt like sleeping for at least a week.

"Yeah, as far as I know," I reiterated grimly.

Dag took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "Look, seriously, do you know who this guy is? Because if you don't you should consider figuring it out sooner rather than later. He may have disguised his order with pretty words and promises of a gift when you complete your task, but I can spot a command when I hear one."

I shrugged casually even though I felt anything but casual about the entire ordeal. "I have some ideas but nothing conclusive," I offered ambiguously. "I'm pretty sure it's beyond easy to figure out once I put all the pieces of the puzzle together, but I'm honestly too tired to make any effort at this point in time."

Dag gave me a worried frown while he bit the bottom of his lip making me exhale loudly.

"Alright, spit it out," I said resignedly. Dag always bit his lip when he wanted to say something but wasn't sure he should, or if his words would be well received. It was one of his most obvious tells.

"I think you should make this your priority," he blurted out. "I get that there's a lot happening right now and that your world just literally changed pretty much overnight, but to disobey a command from a god is one of the worst things you could ever do. They're not like us," he said softly, like he was confiding a well kept secret to me.

"He's not going to understand that your head is too full to think about anything right now, let alone reenact an episode of Blue's Clues. I get it, but he wont. He'll be angry, or disappointed, or I don't even know what. And where he will gift you with something precious were you to follow his command and complete your task, he'll do the complete opposite if you don't. Physical pain, mental torture, curses, there are too many things to name, but he could, and probably would, 'gift' you with all of the above."

I looked at Dagwood's solemn face and swallowed heavily. "But, I mean, it can't be that bad right?" I asked slowly, fearing the answer I could already read in Dag's eyes.

"Probably worse," he admitted soberly. "Figure it out. I'm not even gonna help you with this even though he might not have said anything about being allowed to ask for help, I'm not taking any chances."

"Yeah, alright," I nodded distractedly. "Let's continue the rest of the tour and than you can take me someplace isolated where I can sit and think in peace for awhile, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan," he nodded sharply. Dag pulled me along to show me the rest of the cabins but I was honestly not paying any attention to the words coming out of his mouth. I could tell, without even truly listening, that his heart wasn't really in it. He kept giving me side-ways glances filled with worry and fear. My behavior did nothing to dispel his worries since I basically went on auto pilot after linking my arm with his, and allowed him to pull me along for the ride.

Soon my mind was too occupied with everything that happened in the last couple of days to give Dag any thought, beyond the fact that his presence comforted and grounded me in the best possible ways, while I thought this thing through.

I knew a lot about gods, not just the Greek pantheon either. Ever since I was a little girl I had found them fascinating, and this was long before Percy Jackson's story was even written. I was a little less knowledgeable about the minor deities, but I knew enough to get by.

'The question is; what do I know about Mr. Vogel?'

The dude was powerful, no question about it. I didn't know if the gods could pull off what he did to me. Reincarnation of a soul? Some gods, sure. Take a soul from another dimension and insert them into the place you want and need them to be? I very much doubted it.

He was older than dirt, too. My dad was old, I felt it whenever he forgot to be in control and let his powers run free; it was this aching feeling in my bones. The few instances that Mr. Vogel allowed his aura, for lack of a better word, to flow over me it just made my bones itch uncontrollably. An itch that couldn't be scratched no matter how much I tried. He felt much older then my father; hell, my dad felt like a child compared to him, which brought me to my next point.

I got the distinct feeling that he was much more powerful than the Olympians. It was as if they were children playing a baseball game in the park compared to his playing in the Major League. He told me to look for that which didn't belong. I was intimately familiar with the powers Percy and I had inherited from our father and I hadn't noticed anything else cropping up.

"Hey, Dagwood," I started thoughtfully, immediately catching his attention. "You haven't seen me display any superpowers in the time that you've known me, have you?" I questioned with a small frown. I was pretty sure he wouldn't have any more an answers than I did but it couldn't hurt to ask.

Dag frowned thoughtfully, "No..." he drawled slowly before grinning mischievously. "Unless you count your uncanny ability to never be on time. Ever," he laughed, making me freeze. "That would really be a lame superpower though. I am Chronic girl, I will forever be chronically late to show up to fight the super villains! Worship me, dammit!" he yelled dramatically.

Dagwood joked around some more, trying to come up with lame names for a lame superhero power but I was miles away. Chronically late. My little curse that made it seem like time flew, or slowed to a crawl... That could be classified as something that didn't belong, couldn't it?

But, what did that mean? It wasn't as if this guy had the power to make sure no one was on time; that would be an moronically unnecessary power to have. I froze as I came to a sudden realization and it took everything I had to suppress a face palm of epic proportions. The fact that I was only now realizing this was very embarrassing. Time, his domain was time.

Which beings held power over time?

Well there was always Kronos, but somehow I doubted it. It would make absolutely no sense. My brother had defeated Kronos in the books and placing me here was hopefully not going to change that. I certainly wasn't going to take Kronos' side in this conflict, especially not against my brother. If he had something to do with my rebirth he would have been whispering in my ears like an insidious snake from the moment I was born. Waiting until I was fourteen years old to turn me against my twin brother was a stupid idea that would never work.

My instincts were telling me that it was not my grandfather. Besides, the person responsible for my rebirth had to have some kind of power over death or souls as the situation with my death had shown. Kronos had no such thing.

There was, however, someone else who did. The original Chronos or 'Father Time' as he was often called was associated with the mysteries of afterlife. Chronos, eternal time, and his counterpart Ananke, also know as inevitability.

It felt like a much better fit than the titan Kronos. But how could I be sure?

I was startled out of my inner musings when Dag pulled me to a halt in front of another cabin. I frowned and looked up in curiosity examining it carefully. As first impressions went, it wasn't a favorable one. The cabin looked old and worn down, but so far it had been the only cabin that gave me a true cabin feeling. All the other cabins looked like they were owned by a bunch of eccentric rich people with little taste and too much money on their hands. I studied it carefully, noting the wear and tear and the used feeling it gave off.

"Here we are cabin eleven; the Hermes cabin," Dag said, pointing at the caduceus hanging above the door. "You and Percy will be staying here for the foreseeable future."

He turned towards me and gave me a comforting look. "I know it doesn't look like much compared to the other cabins but I'm sure you won't be staying here long. Your father will see what a great person you are and claim you," I thought I heard him mutter 'whenever he gets around pulling his head out of his ass', but I wasn't actually sure.

"Whatever," I said, shrugging casually. "I'm not really worried. Knowing my brother he'll probably do something stupidly heroic, or just stupid really, attracting our father's attention."

I honestly couldn't care less. It wasn't like I particularly wanted to be publicly claimed. I knew without a doubt that my dad loved us and I didn't need a holographic trident to appear above my head as proof. It would only paint a target on our heads, as far as I was concerned.

"Your brother, yeah," Dag nodded dubiously, "I'm sure he's great," he said with the honesty of someone giving assurances that the newborn baby - which incidentally looked very much like a decomposed gremlin - was the most beautiful creature on the planet. I couldn't help but give him a curious look, wondering what my brother could possibly have done to inspire such 'trust' from my friend. I was pretty sure they never met since my brother was still drooling away in the infirmary.

"Percy is good at those kind of things," I sent Dag a playful grin, "Making me look good, I mean."

"I believe that," he nodded readily. "So, do you want to go inside? I don't know who's going to be here, since I'm pretty sure they're all supposed to be at their monster assault techniques class, but there's always one miscreant that just doesn't learn..." he trailed off ominously. "Probably Travis or Connor. Or both."

"Learn what?" I frowned confusedly.

He sent me a wide shark-like smile. "You don't skip class at CHB, Rhea-darling, you just don't. And those that do..." he laughed like an honest to god comic villain. "Well."

"Okaaaay," I said, slowly backing away from the crazy person. "Wait, Travis and Connor? Weren't those the guys you told me about; the ones who were punished by Mr. D for playing pranks?"

"Yes, that would be them. It would be smart of you to keep that story in mind when dealing with the kids from this particular cabin. They come by their mischievous ways honestly."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," I sighed softly. That was all I needed; getting pranked by Rick Riordan's answer to the Weasley twins.

"Anyway," Dag smiled cheerfully, "Let's go inside."

I shrugged casually. "Sure." I had to see what my new home, no matter how temporarily, looked like. I liked the thought of not having much of an audience to do so. Knowing the huge dork that I was I'd probably embarrass myself even worse than book Percy did during his first visit to cabin eleven.

The inside of the cabin didn't look any better than the outside, in fact, it looked worse. I walked further inside curious to see more. It certainly looked lived in and very crowded if all the sleeping bags on the floor were any indication.

"Why are there sleeping bags on the floor?" I questioned, already knowing I wasn't going to like the answer.

"Oh, those are for the unclaimed kids. Hermes' kids get the beds and the rest sleep on the floor, unless there are beds available, then it goes by seniority. First the kids who were claimed but whose parent doesn't have a cabin, than the unclaimed kids. The longer an unclaimed kid has been here the more chance they have at sleeping in a bed," Dag explained.

"You people let children sleep on the floor?" I demanded incredulously. "What the hell kind of camp are you running here? You do realize that we live in America, right? The land of the free, home of the brave, the country where children don't sleep on floors?"

"They do in Camp Half-blood," someone said from behind me. I turned to see a girl casually leaning against the door post of the entrance. I estimated her around my age or slightly older, with black hair and dark eyes. She seemed casual and at ease but I could see her studying me carefully, eyes cataloging everything about me, automatically committing it to memory.

I frowned at her, "Don't they know it's bad to sleep on the floor? You can develop all kinds of back problems and-,"

"-Don't really think they care," the girl interrupted with a grim kind of amusement. "We don't usually live long enough to develop those kind of issues, so why would they?"

What the fuck? Last time I checked we weren't living in Sparta. I didn't know why exactly since I already had some idea about how children of minor gods and the unclaimed were treated, but this honestly pissed me off. Just because one of our parents was too busy to take responsibility, or because he or she wasn't a part of the Olympian council we would be forced to sleep on the floor. Dogs were treated better than this, let alone children.

"That is so fucking wrong, that I can't even find the words," was all I could utter in that moment. I actually had a lot more to say, and if this was any indication of how unclaimed kids were treated here, I was definitely beginning to understand why throwing their lot in with an evil Titan might have seemed like a good idea. They were simply getting tired of being told to sit in the back of the bus.

"Welcome to Camp Half-blood," she smiled humorlessly. "With a little luck your godly parent will claim you soon, and from what I've been hearing around camp, they'll probably be an Olympian so you won't have to deal with this," she gestured at the sleeping bags decorating the floor.

"Oh, well, I guess that makes everything right as rain, then," I drawled sarcastically. "Besides, how would you know if my dad is an Olympian?"

She cocked her head slightly to the side and narrowed her eyes. "You slayed the Minotaur without having any previous training, right? I doubt you're fathered by a minor god," she explained casually.

"My brother killed him," I corrected.

"Mmmh," she hummed mildly, eyes sharp and scrutinizing. "If you say so..."

"I do say so." why did no one believe me? "Who are you anyway?" I turned to Dagwood who had remained uncharacteristically silent. "Who is she?" I asked my friend.

"Layla Hathaway," Dag said softly. I didn't now why exactly but I had a feeling Dag was being cautious. "Daughter of Nyx, goddess of night."

Well Then. Not a canon character, at least, as far as I could tell. Wait, wasn't Nyx that scary, but kinda dumb as a post, chick that lived in Tartarus? As far as I remembered Percy and Annabeth had bumped into her during their 'tour' of the deepest pits of the underworld and basically talked and subsequently tricked their way out of danger.

"Well met, daughter of Nyx," I greeted, making Dag choke on his own spit.

"Oh for crying out loud, Rhea!" he yelled giving me an irritated look. "Sorry about that," he told the daughter of Nyx as she looked at me with raised brows. "She watches too much television, it has clearly had an adverse effect on her brain."

"What?" I asked defensively. "It's a perfectly valid way to greet someone."

"Maybe if your're a character from Lord of the Rings," Dag retorted with exasperation. "For normal people a simple 'hello' would do."

I snorted amusedly. "What could possibly have given you the idea that I'm normal?"

"You know what, never mind," Dag sighed. "Layla, this is my best friend Rhea. Please ignore most of what she says; she was diagnosed a as weirdo."

"No I wasn't!" I objected incredulously.

"Well if you weren't, then you really should have been,'' he retorted adamantly.

"I'm not weird," at Dag's hard stare I shrugged and amended, "Most of the time. Besides, there's nothing wrong with being different."

"It is if you use that statement as a motto and strive to be as weird as you possibly can be."

"Like you're the one to lecture me on being different, Mr. Mighty Goat," I muttered sullenly. "Anyway, it really is nice to meet you, ignore us, we're always like this," I told the girl whose brows were slowly raising higher the longer our exchange went on. I couldn't really blame her, the team of Dagwood and Jackson was an acquired taste.

She frowned for a second, eyeing both Dag and I thoughtfully, before a small smile curled her lips upwards. "Nice to meet you too. Rhea, right?" she walked towards us and offered her hand in greeting.

"Yeah," I shook her hand, "Rhea Jackson and you obviously know Dag."

"Dag?" she questioned, tilting her head slightly to the side in a curious manner.

"That would be me," Dag supplied helpfully. "Apparently Silas is a stupid name and Dagwood is too long for her to bother with most of the time," he sighed exasperatedly.

"I didn't say it was a stupid name, I said it didn't suit you," I objected good-naturedly.

"It means forest," Dag explained slowly, as if I was an idiot, "I am a satyr, of course it suits me."

Our disagreement was interrupted by a soft chuckle, making Dag look at the girl, Layla, as if she just grew a second head that was in the process of trying to eat the original one.

"I like it," Layla said, still smiling. "Dag, it suits you." Dag looked even more shocked after her words.

"Thanks," I grinned. She seemed like a nice girl. I was lucky that all the people I had met so far seemed really pleasant. Except for the she-male, but I was trying to block encountering 'it' from my mind. Also, I would be pissy too, if someone asked me if I was secretly male. And Dionysus, but he was a recovering alcoholic that clearly didn't want to be sober. The fact that he was a god might also have something to do with his assholish behavior.

"You two have a strange relationship," she said matter-of-factly, eyes still analyzing our moves and body language.

"How so?" I took it upon myself to ask, since Dag seemed to be doing an imitation of a flabbergasted statue right next to me.

"You're really good friends," she answered slowly, as if she was just figuring this out. It should have been obvious, really; Dag introduced me as his best friend.

"Of course we are," I agreed, with a small fond grin aimed at Dag, "The best."

"Huh," she seemed surprised somehow. "Well nothing wrong with it of course, but very different."

"Different is my middle name," I joked, ignoring Dag's, who was apparently done with being a statue, small mutter of 'No it's not, your middle name is weirdo.' I still wasn't sure what she was getting at, though, or why she seemed surprised by whatever it was she was talking about.

"Other demigods aren't usually as close to their protectors as you are to me, Rhea," Dag explained kindly, giving me a warm, fond smile. Well that couldn't be right. What about Percy and Grover? Sure, it hadn't happened yet, but I had never read anything about people finding their friendship strange. Then again, Percy could be oblivious during the best of times, knowing my brother it could be highly possible that he just hadn't noticed.

"Why not?" I questioned, honestly curious. Who wouldn't want to be friends with Dag, he was great?

"I don't know," Dag shrugged, "I have never really thought about it before. It's just one of those things."

"But you seem to be friends with that Will dude, so it can't be that weird," I offered, still feeling a little confused with the strange turn of events.

"That's different," Layla said. "Will Solace is one of the medics, they make it their business to know and be friendly to everyone."

For some reason that answer didn't sit well with me. "Their loss," I simply said, trying to shrug off the feeling of wrongness. "Silas Dagwood is the most awesome friend ever and if they don't see it, well, more for me, I guess," I declared, making Dag snort in surprised amusement.

"Yeah," he smiled widely, eyes shining with warmth, "I guess so."

"Damn right," I nodded decisively, wearing a wide grin before turning to the slightly smiling daughter of Nyx. "So, Layla, I take it you're a member of the eleventh?" I asked, grin slightly dimming when her barely-there smile disappeared at my question.

"Yes. That would be my sleeping bag, right over there," she pointed at a purple sleeping bag on the floor next to the wall without a window.

"So you have to stay here because your mom doesn't have a cabin of her own? Wouldn't it be better to just build a cabin for your mom, or if that's not allowed, to build an extra cabin for all the unclaimed kids and the children of minor gods?"

"No it wouldn't be better," she hisses through clenched teeth. "Because that would actually be logical and make sense."

"It just isn't done, Rhea," Dag sighed, looking a lot older all of a sudden. That reminded me of the fact that I didn't know his actual age. I'd have to remember to ask him later.

"Why?" I was fully aware that I sounded like a seven year old constantly asking 'why' but I couldn't help it. Not only was it stupid and would it cause a lot of children to turn their backs on Camp Half-Blood and join up with Kronos, it could also turn out to be physically and mentally unhealthy.

"It just isn't," Layla sighed, suddenly looking very tired. "The Olympians make the rules here. Well, if they actually care enough to make any, I suppose," she said with a distinct edge of bitterness.

"That is just beyond stupid." I could hear the thunder rumbling loudly in the sky even from inside the cabin, making Dag wince.

"Okay, that's enough of that, keep your mouth shut unless you actually want to eat lightning," Dag said hurriedly, giving a quick apologetic look to the ceiling. And he had the audacity to call me weird.

"I just call 'em like I see 'em, my friend." I frowned, "Someone should really get some kind of inspector from CPS in here; I'm pretty sure this is illegal."

Layla snorted, "There's no use. They'd only use the mist to make them forget again."

"Now that would definitely be illegal."

"Forgot about the legalities, Rhea. Things are different here. This isn't the mortal world and those rules down't apply here," Layla explained with an air of frustration. "You should really keep that in mind before your ignorance gets you in trouble."

"I think it's common fucking decency not to let a child sleep on the floor. Whatever rules apply or don't apply here, there's still right and wrong," I argued.

"Hey, preaching to the choir here," Layla said, making me deflate. The thunder outside rumbled threateningly. I really needed to curb my new habit of standing on soap boxes before I got my dumbass self killed. Change would come, whether they wanted it or not, my brother would make sure of it. And my drive to help him make those changes just got a whole lot stronger.

"You're interesting," Layla stated, staring at me contemplatively.

"I do try," I drawled as dry as a dessert.

"Like a breath of fresh air," she continued carefully, ignoring my words as her eyes took on a distant quality, seemingly looking right through me. "It'll be interesting to see what choices you'll make," okay starting to look and sound kind of creepy now. "What your presence here will change for the better... Or worse." I swallowed nervously, she was sounding a lot creepy now.

"Yeah, definitely," Dag interrupted, capturing Layla's attention. I was going to have to thank him for his sacrifice later. "But since she just arrived at CHB I'll just show her around first before she goes around making all those changes." he turned to me giving me a small strained smile, "As you have seen this is cabin eleven, let's go visit the twelfth."

"Yes, I definitely want to see the twelfth, it's the whole reason I wanted this tour," my smile was just as strained as Dag's. Whose cabin was the twelfth anyway? I couldn't seem to remember.

"You really want to see Dionysus' cabin that bad?" She asked skeptically.

Dionysus? Oh right. "Yes," I smiled brightly, lying through my teeth, at least Will wasn't here to call me out on it. "He made quite the impression." and it wasn't a complete lie, he did make an impression. Whether it was a favorable one was another thing all together.

"Anyway, it was nice talking to you, places to go, cabins to see and all that," Dag said, grabbing my hand and pulling me out the door.

"I'm sure I'll see you later," I told the girl, as Dag pulled me passed her and out of the cabin.

Layla didn't say anything in reply, she just smiled, her eyes holding a knowing quality that only creeped me out more.

"What the hell was that?" I demanded from Dag the second we were out of hearing distance.

"That was Layla Hathaway, daughter of Nyx," he said as if that explained everything. It really didn't.

"Why did she get so weird all of a sudden?"

"She's always like that," he dismissed offhandedly. "No, the weird part was how normal was talking to you in the beginning. She actually laughed," he said voice filled with incredulous awe. "I didn't think that was possible. Like, physically possible."

I snorted, "She seemed nice, even if she did get a little strange at the end."

"She isn't, not usually anyway," Dag answered carefully. "Most people stay away from her because of her mother, but she doesn't really seem to care. She has no friends, as far as I know."

"Maybe we can be her friends," I offered casually.

"I don't know, Rhea," Dag frowned skeptically. "She's really weird."

I snorted, "I'm really weird, and so are you."

"Speak for yourself," Dag grinned. "And Layla's a different kind of weird, the creepy kind. She's also a bit of a bitch."

"So are you, it doesn't stop me from hanging out with you," I quipped.

"I think you mean that the other way around," he scoffed. "So cabin twelve?"

"Cabin twelve," I agreed as we made our way to Dionysus' cabin. The moment we reached the twelfth cabin we looked at each other and simultaneously started laughing.

"I can't believe you used wanting to see this cabin as your excuse to leave. 'He made quite the impression'," he mocked in a high pitched voice, trying, but failing, to imitate me. "I can't believe you actually managed to say that with a straight face," he howled with laughter.

"Whatever. I just wanted to get the hell out of there. I would've said pretty much anything." I frowned thoughtfully, "I'm pretty sure she was like a couple of sentences away from dubbing me the chosen one."

"Stop exaggerating," he chuckled with exasperation. "Layla can be creepy, true, but she wasn't that bad. You haven't even met the Oracle yet. Trust me, one meeting with her will put everything back in perspective."

"So this Oracle chick is even more creepy? Who is she and how do I avoid her?"

"You don't. If you're meant to meet her you will," Dag explained in a way that explained absolutely nothing.

"Fine, but if she starts spouting some long lost prophesy about 'bringing balance to the force', I'm not gonna be a happy camper... Literally. As far as I'm concerned Anakin Skywalker can keep his title. So can Buffy, for that matter... And Neo... and Harry Potter," and Percy, even though he wasn't the Hero in the end. "You know, there are an awfully lot of chosen ones in fiction."

"Eh, it's easier to put the responsibility on the shoulders of one person and tell them to fix it because they were chosen by destiny than it is to get off your lazy ass and do something about the bad guys pissing on your lawn, I guess," Dag theorized. "Makes it entertaining to witness them mess it all up, only to watch them triumph in the end because of some obscure rule that no one ever heard about, or a technicality of some kind."

I gave Dag a wide-eyed look filled with shock.

"What?" he demanded.

"That sounded like something I would say, only with a lot more swearing."

He froze, eyes glazing over as he went over his words, mouthing some of them as he retraced his verbal steps. "That does it," he said suddenly. "Now I'm actually starting to sound like you. Clearly we've been spending way too much time together."

"Very true," I grinned.

"Do you still want me to take you to someplace where you can do some heavy thinking?"

Like I wanted to breathe. "Oh, yes, please. I have a lot to think about."

"Let's go then," he turned to give me a measuring look," Daughter of Triton, huh? In that case, I know exactly where to go."

"I doubt it, Dag. I'm pretty sure I know who my dad is and it's not Triton."

"Who do you think it is?" Dag asked eagerly as he led my away from the twelve cabins.

I gave a contemplative look to the sky, silently weighing my options before sighing deeply. "He hasn't claimed us for a good reason, I think. For now it would probably be wiser to keep my mouth shut. Some people are rude enough to eaves drop on a private conversation," I told the sky almost in a challenging way. "Point proven," I muttered softly when the sky rumbled almost in offence. That, once again, answered my suspicions about the gods watching us as if we were reenacting an episode of Days of Our Lives.

"Oh," Dag said, giving the rumbling sky a suspicious look. "In that case you probably should keep your mouth shut."

"My thinking exactly, my friend," I retorted, feeling beyond exhausted.

To my surprise Dagwood led me to the beach, causing me to once again thank the gods for sending a friend my way that knew exactly what I needed, especially when I didn't.

"No one usually comes here this time of day so it'll be a quiet place for you to thoroughly freak out and subsequently get your head back in the game. Unfortunately," he sent the sky a wry smile, "I can't do anything about them so you probably shouldn't take your close off and run around the beach naked," he grinned. "Just a friendly suggestion," he added when he saw my unimpressed look.

"Thanks, Dag. Really," I told me friend sincerely.

"Anytime, Rhea. Good luck," he added before turning around and walking away.

I took a deep breath and exhaled loudly as I tried to ignore the feeling of dread that had been slowly gathering in the pit of my stomach from the moment I had stepped foot into Camp Half-Blood. I was truly alone for the first time since this entire fucked up ordeal started and I had never been so scared in my life. I clenched my jaw shut tightly and swallowed the hysterical laugh bubbling in my throat. I was pretty sure if I started I would never stop and I had no intention of becoming this world's version of the Joker quite yet; things weren't exactly that bad.

'Well, not yet anyway.'

I swallowed another hysterical giggle at that thought, but it also sobered me up in a way like nothing could. This was only the beginning. If I lost it this early on, I would be better off packing my bags and moving to Alaska for a couple of years. So would Percy. I refused to be a liability to my brother, especially since what I wanted more than anything was to make things better for him.

I turned around to glance longingly at Dag's retreating back and took a deep breath before exhaling loudly. Throughout this entire mess I kept hoping and longing for a short reprieve from the wild ride my life had become. Now that I finally had that movement of silence, a chance to take a deep breath and let go, to think things through and devise a strategy that wasn't going to get me and my brother killed, I wanted nothing more than to run in the other direction. I didn't want to be alone and it took everything in me not to turn around and run after Dag; to beg him not to leave me alone with my thoughts.

I took a deep shuddering breath and scraped every inch of willpower I could find together and focused on standing still. There was no use in embarrassing myself by becoming an emotional mess clinging to her best friend crying about wanting my mommy. I was a adult; the fact that I looked like a flat-chested fourteen year old girl did not mean I had to behave like one. Not anymore than I already had, at least.

I took a step forward, my foot sinking into the sand. I frowned as I looked down at my chucks. Clad in my favorite sneakers, jeans and my brother's favorite Team Kakashi hoody, I wasn't exactly equipped for a day at the beach. I sighed as I leaned down to take of my chucks and socks and rolled up the hems of my jeans. I left on the hoody though. I didn't need it because the sun was shining nicely and the wind felt like a warm spring breeze, but it was Percy's and wearing it brought me comfort. Besides, it had a picture of Hatake Kakashi on it; not wearing it would be blasphemy.

I put my socks inside my shoes and almost left them behind before I reconsidered. 'Children of Hermes, Rhea' I reminded myself. I picked up my shoes and made my way towards the shoreline. The smell and sound of the Atlantic Ocean called to me and sent me the feeling of comfort. It felt like coming home after a long and tiring day to the smell of mom cooking my favorite meal.

'I want my mom,' I couldn't help but think longingly.

I sat down on the beach and buried my bare feet in the soft grains of warm sand looking at the beautiful blue, welcoming ocean. "Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations," I sighed wryly. Maybe if I said it often enough I'd start believing it.

I shifted my leg and grabbed some sand watching mesmerized as it flowed trough my fingers.

"Now is as good a time as any, I suppose," I murmured almost silently. I took a deep breath and took the next step on my path as Rhea Jackson.

"Chronos," I whispered to the wind, eyes still focused on the sand slipping through my fingers.

"To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wildflower to hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour," a voice quoted from beside me, making me freeze like a deer caught in headlights.

AN: You guys are awesome; I wouldn't trade you for the world.

Answer: I'm anticipating going off the rails. So far, there have been some changes but we're still pretty much sailing the canon seas. I plan on taking this ship into unfamiliar waters soon. Do keep in mind that The Lightening Thief follows Percy Jackson. This story follows Rhea Jackson.

Question: How do you feel about Silas Dagwood?