Maddie groaned as the bright light hit her eyes and she slowly woke up. She was in a place she had never seen before, sleeping in a bed that was not hers. The entire room was too bright and the gold painting on the walls did not help. The entire place smelled of a mix of morning dew, sweet nectar, and cough medicine. Maddie wanted to just roll over and go back to sleep but there was a sharp pain in her head and her ankle, making it impossible to get comfortable.

"Hey! You're awake!" Aaron walked over to her, holding a tray of food and Maddie's mouth watered at the sight. "Can you sit up?"

Maddie struggled to do so and Aaron had to set the tray down and help her lean against the back of her bed. Her body felt stiff and numb, but not in pain. Which was strange cause from what she remembered she had been hurt a lot.

"What happened?" She asked, her voice cracking due to her dry throat. Aaron handed her a sandwich, peanut butter, banana, and bacon. A weird combination but one that Maddie loved immensely.

"Well, not sure how much you remember. Apparently, one of our team members found out that the kids bothering you wanted revenge on Marcus, so he agreed to help. He caused a large distraction to let them sneak past. They weren't even after the flag just wanted to hurt you specifically." Maddie watched Aaron's knuckled turn white as he clutched his hands into fists and his tone went sour. He quickly released it though and smiled. "Looks like they messed with the wrong person though, am I right? Daughter of Ares. Never would have guessed it...Anyways. As you know, you fought them off and almost killed Michael...good riddance I say...then you met your dad...and then due to your injuries you passed out. Marcus and I brought you here to the Apollo cabin, they've been watching over you for the past day."

"Day!?" Maddie almost choked on her food.

"Yeah...you've been asleep for an entire day. Kelly and Marcus were here most of the time, waiting for you to wake up. I told them to go get food just now cause they hadn't been eating or sleeping. Man, they're gonna be upset that they missed you waking up…"

Maddie let Aaron ramble on and took a better look around the room. There were musical instruments that lined the walls and some campers milling around. Some wore hospital gowns, others wore face masks and gloves, others were just in regular clothing. There was a distinct tune playing in the background though she couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. The entire place was a cabin/hospital/music store. It was beautiful.

"So the Apollo kid taking care of you said you should be alright. You were almost on the verge of death before they helped you...He said you may still have a few aches and pains here and there but you're good to go besides that! Well...I mean...in terms of pain." Aaron slyly handed Maddie a mirror and she looked quizzically at him. She brought it closer to her face and stopped when she saw her reflection.

Her face still had spots of dry blood and ash, obscuring some of her freckled from sight. A large bandage covered her entire right cheek and another one circled around her head. She had small cuts up and down her face, making her look like she had been in a fight with a cat or a thousand little needles. The most shocking part though was her hair. Her auburn hair that she kept in a long braid was choppy and missing. It barely touched her shoulders now. There were even some areas that were completely bald and instead were patches of bright red skin that seemed to be burn marks that were still healing.

"Yeah...so maybe don't battle in fire next time?"

Maddie started to laugh.

"What? What's wrong?"

"I look awful! I love it! I hated my long hair but kept it cause my mother liked it...I was also getting sick and tired of those bullies pulling me and grabbing me by my hair. This is wonderful! Hey, hey. Can you grab my camera from my bunk and take a picture of me?!"

Aaron stared at her as if she had grown another head. Here she was, in the hospital essentially, after a giant, traumatic fight, and she had lost most all of her hair, yet she was laughing like a schoolgirl. He couldn't help but smile and nod.

"If that's what will make you happy then sure." He stood up and hurried off, leaving Maddie alone in the hustle and bustle of the Apollo cabin. A soft breeze drifted through the room and she felt as though it was him, sending her a sign that she was safe and that he was watching her.

"Oh! Hey! You woke up!" One of the kids wearing medical garb walked over to her. He seemed to be about her age and had messy, sunny blond hair. He smiled warmly and held out his hand to her.

"I'm Thomas. I was helping you out when you were brought here. How you feeling?"

"Better. Thank you. Ah! I'm Maddie." Maddie awkwardly smiled as she realized she had forgotten to introduce herself.

He laughed in response, "don't worry, you're friends told me when you first arrived. How's that ankle of yours feeling? It was pretty bent out of whack. Luckily we got ambrosia to help with that."

"Ambrosia? You mean like the food of the gods!?"

"Huh? No one told you? We have ambrosia and nectar that only demigods are able to eat...well we still need to be careful, if we take too much we could burn up from the inside out but that's detail work. It works wonders."

"Woah…"

Maddie and Thomas took some time conversing, talking about the Apollo cabin and how they operated as a mini hospital for the camp. He let her know that in the end, Hecate cabin won capture the flag which Maddie was happy to hear. He even took the time to take off the bandages on her face, head and leg to replace them with new ones.

"I only heard bits and pieces about everything that happened between you and those guys but I hope you're doing okay now. If you need any help in the future let me know, I'd be happy to kick some creeper butts for you."

"Thank you. The whole thing still doesn't make a ton of sense to me...I don't really understand why they kept following me…"

Thomas paused and looked at her, then he started to laugh. "Are you serious? I think it's pretty obvious to anyone who has eyes."

"Huh? N-no...I'm serious I don't understand…"

"Well, maybe I can shed some light for you. It's what Apollo kids do best, right? Create light?" He winked at her and sat on the edge of her bed, by her feet, and she cocked her head curiously at him. "For starters, you are quite beautiful and cute."

Maddie felt her face heat up and she shifted awkwardly. The only one she had ever heard make statements like that before was her mother, granted her only human interactions before coming to camp had been with her mother, but still. It felt weird and unnatural. She didn't know how to respond.

"My guess though, the main reason why they were targeting you in particular is cause you're new around here. You don't really know a lot of people and it's pretty easy to tell that you don't know much about the world. Makes you seem like an easy target to mess with."

"Oh…" Maddie deflated into herself again, the words hurt but he did seem to have a point...it made sense…

"Then of course, there's your body too…" A light pink swept across Thomas' pale skin and he coughed awkwardly, looking away from her.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well-"

"Maddie!"

Maddie's attention was drawn away by the sudden sound of her name. Aaron waved happily to her as he walked towards her bed, Marcus, Kelly, and Alicia quickly in tow behind him.

"Sorry it took me so long! I couldn't find your camera and then I wanted to make sure I found these guys to come say hi to you too. Couldn't find Hunter though…Anyways! Here's your camera!"

Maddie's eyes lit up at the sight of her camera and she quickly reached over for it, but was quickly intercepted as Kelly wrapped her arms around Maddie and pulled her into a hug.

"Thank the gods I was so worried!"

Maddie giggled, "I'm alright. My ankle still hurts a bit but I'm fine!"

"Can't say the same for your face and hair…" Alicia made a playful face of disgust and laughed, Maddie joined her.

"Wait, wait! Aaron! Take a picture pleeease? I wanna document what I look like!" Maddie bounced up and down anxiously in her bed, wanting for him to hurry up the process.

"Okay, okay. Give me a second to get the camera out of the case…"

"You're the only girl I know that could look like that and beg for a picture. You really are a strange one…" Marcus leaned against the wall near Maddie's bed. Though he seemed calm and collected like always, Maddie could see the relief he had in the way he smiled. It was just like when she had first been targeted and she had told him she was alright.

"Daaamn, you have a Polaroid Maddie!? I always thought these things were cool!" Aaron had successfully pulled the camera out of the bag and was admiring it from all angles.

"Where'd you get it?" Kelly had taken Thomas' spot on her bed since he had left as soon as the group had joined Maddie.

"My mom got it for me a few years ago for Christmas! I only got to use it every so often...here though I've already gotten to take some really good pictures!"

"Oh...yeah...I saw those when I picked up your camera. You are really interested in roadkill, huh…? Smile!"

Maddie turned and smiled brightly at the camera, taking in the moment when it flashed, clicked, and whirred, starting to produce the picture. She hadn't realized it, but Kelly had decided to photobomb the picture at the last second, making a goofy face off to the side. When she saw the picture later she had laughed brightly at the sight of her friend.

"It's not the roadkill that's fascinating." Maddie reached over and grabbed the photo from the camera, putting it into her pants pocket to once again try and ensure the best quality of photo. "It's the process of death itself. Every creature dies differently. Whether it's a bird hitting a window, or a fly that has been squashed by a fly swatter. Every single creature has its own beauty when it comes to death. Some die with their eyes open, others have their eyes closed. Some it's raining and others it's a bright, perfect day and it's like their death didn't even happen! I want to capture each and every moment when I encounter it! Finding the perfect moment to capture the pain, the hurt, the fear that death brings? It's wonderful! Death is fascinating! Where do we go? Well...obviously I know now that the Underworld exists since the gods exist so they're taken care of by Thanatos and Hades, but before, there was no idea! Even now, has any living creature ever been to the Underworld and been able to talk about what it's like? Unless there is, then we have no clue what the afterlife is like! It's so fascinating and wonderful and beautiful and-"

Maddie stopped herself as she registered the confused, and disgusted faces of her friends. Did they not understand? Did they not think that death was beautiful? Had she said something wrong? Given the wrong piece of information? Messed up her grammar at one point?

"Ah...now I see it. Definitely a daughter of Ares…" Alicia recovered from her shock quicker than the others and smiled at Maddie. "You really are a strange one."

"Did I say something wrong…?"

"No! Not at all! It's just well...what you were describing...not a lot of people feel the same way, you know?" Aaron gave her an awkward smile, trying to encourage her.

"Oh...should I not do it?"

"No! Of course not! If that's what you're passionate about then it's what you're passionate about! It may be weird to some people but don't let that stop you. I, for one, may be looking at roadkill with new eyes at least. Hey! You should show me your pictures sometime!" Kelly leaned forward towards Maddie with excitement dancing behind her eyes.

"But Kelly you hate-"

"Shut up Marcus!"

The group continued talking and joking with one another. Eventually, Aaron went over to talk to Thomas about Maddie's condition and Thomas gave her the okay to leave. Alicia and Marcus helped her get out of bed and stand up. The group started to leave, but with each step Maddie took towards the doors her heart felt more and more heavy. She stopped in her tracks and spun around, looking for Thomas. Once spotted, she made her way over to him, ignoring the confusion from her friends.

"Thomas!"

"Hm? Oh! Hey Maddie. Did you forget something?"

"How...I heard that one can gain the favor of other gods even if they're not their godly parent...how do I gain Apollo's favor?"

Thomas blinked at her as he processed the question and then laughed. "I think you're the first person to ever ask me that. Most demigods try to get on the good sides of say, Zues or Aphrodite. I'm surprised someone like you, especially being the daughter of war, wants to befriend Apollo."

"How do I do it?"

"Alright, alright. Well...my dad's a little weird. He can be very picky about demigods, both those that are his children and those who aren't. He's proud of all his talents so he likes all his kids to be masters of all, music, medicine, you name it. Doesn't understand that most are better at some rather than others...anyways! Probably start off by learning what you can about music and/or medicine. Also just keep making offerings to him, he's one who is very picky about that. Uhh...other than that I'm not sure. But if you have any questions about him, let me know. I'd be happy to help you. Take care Maddie." He spread his arms for a hug and she happily replied, squeezing his torso.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Maddie mumbled the words into his shoulder and grinned from ear to ear. She let go of the hug and quickly trotted off to her friends with new found determination.

The sun and the moon, the two who have looked after her since birth. She would make sure that without a doubt, she would gain their favor. She would become the perfect demigod in their eyes. From this day forward, everything she did, she did for them.