Let's get the disclaimer out of the way. I own nothing except my OCs, the storyline of strictly this story, and a sign that says 'GO AWAY I'M READING'. There.

So! Hello! How are you? You know, I don't ask that enough.

If you think I'm trying to get your mind off being mad at me for being lousy at posting chapters, you're right. So sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I can't really say that I've been busy, because I haven't. But I'll promise (again) that I'll be posting more often from now on. I hope. *crosses fingers in the hoping way, not the lying way*

So anyway, let's get on with this! You guys have been posting a lot of really helpful reviews, and so I think that you (especially BlueSky509, I guess) deserve something. So I tried to incorporate a few of your wishes into this chapter, and let's hope you enjoy!

(Also, a bit of a sharkjump... tell me if you think it's a bit weird and I'll rewrite and take it out. I'd also like to acknowledge that I didn't pick a very good ending place, but I needed to post something. Maybe I'll even have another chapter out by tomorrow! *crosses fingers again*)

You know those days when you spring out of bed to a perfectly beautiful day, and everybody's in a good mood, and the world just goes your way? Yeah, me neither.

A few days after arriving at camp I stumbled to the bathroom in a t-shirt and jeans, already late for breakfast. I spotted my reflection and groaned. Overnight a few zits had popped up on my chin and I didn't have any makeup whatsoever to cover it up.

I groaned again, trying to figure out what to do with my hair. All the other girls in the cabin had made it to the dining pavilion with supermodel makeup and time to spare. I wondered, frustrated, if there was any magical demigod beauty-powers that everybody had but me.

I was cramming my hair into a braid and glaring at my reflection when one of the angry red spots disappeared.

My mouth dropped open as one by one, my skin transformed itself. Almost all my freckles were gone, leaving only a sprinkle across my nose. My skin was soft and smooth, any blemishes history.

Studying my face, I ran a hand through my hair, wondering. I almost always gave up on doing my hair and trapped it all in a braid or a ponytail, but on rare occasions my mom and I worked together to straighten it. Now I concentrated on my irritation at my hair and watched as the curls unraveled, leaving it almost twice as long as normal.

"Okay, that's creepy," I whispered to myself, staring. Then the last-chance conch horn blast echoed in the morning air, and I raced out the door and up the hill. I felt the sensation of my hair bouncing on my back, as though I'd left it curly. I shrugged and snuck into the dining pavilion with a few other Hermes stragglers.

Now, having seen many a Hollywood movie, a tiny bit of me was expecting everybody to turn around and stare, but nothing like that happened. Instead Nico frowned and George nudged me to scoot over and make room for his girlfriend.

Or, I thought nobody had noticed. A little girl a few campers down the table whispered, "is she an Aphrodite kid, you think?"

I whirled around, cheeks flaming. The Aphrodite cabin, that I'd observed, was mostly full of airheaded, pretty girls whose only concerns were flirting and fingernails. "Are you still staring?" I shot back. The little girl, dark-haired and about Liza's age, shrank back and turned to whisper to her friend in a scared tone.

"I'm worse than Nico," I muttered to myself and didn't even stand to get breakfast.

Nico walked over as soon as we finished eating. "How'd you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Your hair. I mean, it's all-" Nico made vague hand gestures that I guessed meant that my hair was straight.

"I, uh, straightened it." I shrugged and again felt more hair on my shoulders than I should have.

"You- oh. It's an illusion." Nico looked troubled. He reached a hand out and I felt a tug at my scalp.

I stared. "But you're not holding anything!" There didn't appear to be anything between his fingers, but the second tug was definitely real.

"Feel your hair," he said. I put my hand on my hair and laughed. It felt just as tangled and curly as it was this morning. I put my hand on my face and frowned that I could feel the zits I thought had vanished.

"Try making it curl again," he suggested. I frowned, picturing my hair as it'd been this morning. Suddenly my curly mane was back, in my face and blowing everywhere.

Nico muttered, "much better," but he still looked worried. "How are you able to do that? There's only one-" he broke off.

I pestered him shamelessly, but he refused to finish the thought he'd begun. "I have to go. See you at lunch or something." He was gone before I could demand he stay until he answered my question. I frowned and followed my cabin back for inspection.

For the past few days, Chiron had cut me a little slack. I'd wandered around camp talking to Nico and watching others take part in the activities. Today, however, George herded me along with half the cabin to the stables. I wrinkled my nose at the stink and stood by a little boy and another teenage girl. The girl nearly melted into giggles when Percy came out of the stables, and I rolled my eyes. But then I saw the creature that followed the son of the sea god, and my mouth dropped open for a reason besides Percy's bright green eyes.

The jet-black steed stepped out of the doorway and glanced over the campers with what seemed like an almost annoyed look. The horse whinnied and I heard a dozen 'ooo's through the crowd as two feathery wings unfurled from the horse's back. He stamped his hoof in the dirt and looked at Percy.

"Oh, c'mon, we've talked about this," Percy said. I looked around to try and find who he was talking to, then stood agape again when I realized he was addressing the winged horse. "You let one of them ride you or no extra oats tonight," he continued. "How 'bout that?"

Percy turned to speak to the rest of us. "This is a pegasus," he began. "They-" The horse whinnied again to interrupt him.

The son of Poseidon rolled his eyes. "Right. His name's Blackjack, and he says that he better be getting paid for this." Nearly all the campers laughed.

The girl next to me raised her hand. Percy's eyebrows rose, but he called on her. Her voice sounded breathy and awed. "How'd you learn to talk to horses?" She batted her eyelashes at Percy. "Blackjack is a pegasus, actually," Percy said with another and it's sort of a Poseidon thing."

"Isn't he so hot?" she whispered.

It took me a moment and a glance at her expectant expression to realize she was talking to me. "Doesn't he have a girlfriend? Isn't she, like, right there?" I pointed at Annabeth, who was standing by and watching Percy.

The girl waved her hand, as if dismissing my comment. "Detail," she said absentmindedly, "I'm Abby, by the way. In case you ever need a makeover." She gave me a look that seemed to suggest I get on my hands and knees and beg her to cover my face with an inch-thick layer of makeup.

"No thanks," I said aloud.

"What?"

"Nothing." I looked back at Percy as more pegasi came out of the stable, fifteen in all. I did a quick head count. There were thirty of us. I smiled a little. Blackjack didn't have to carry anyone, after all.

No! Stop! Listen! Before you review (because I know that you love me, and therefore you WILL review, because it brings happiness into my heart), I gotta say something. Whether this statement should start with 'I'm sorry' or 'don't worry' depends on you, but here it is: she's not an Aphrodite kid. That was already done, and I am acceptably original in my story ideas. So.

Now that that's out of the way...

I've started another fanfic, called 'Not What You'd Expect' about if Aladdin were a girl and Jasmine a prince, and a bit of a skewed storyline. It's a bit strange, but I'm pretty excited about it, so if you'd check it out I could be oh-so-grateful. If you review, I'd be even happier. If you follow it, I may just jump up and down like I did when I got my first review on this story.

Please, please, please review this and the aforementioned story, and thanks for reading!

-natalie.