Sister's Claim

Aimi and Drew were claimed two weeks into their arrival at camp. It had started as a nightmare. Every time the director tried and failed to eat something, he tried to find some camper to punish. (Tantalus was apparently the most recent sucker from Greek Mythology the gods had managed to rope into watching their kids. The last had allegedly been Chiron who was apparently less fond of child cannibalism) Drew so far had managed to stay out of trouble. She'd done her best to keep her sister out of trouble too. There was only so much one could do when your sister was caught red-handed graffitiing the outside of the Hermes cabin with images of flowers and roses. It was a gorgeous mural.

Tantalus's eyes bulged when he saw it. He started sputtering. Aimi looked nervous. She looked every bit of ten years old she was.

"Desecration of campgrounds," he sputtered. "Absolutely despicable! Back in my day children- "

Whatever he was going to say was drowned out by Mr. D. (also known as the Greek god Dionysus) munching popcorn.

"I just…" Aimi wrung her fingers. Drew caught the Stoll twins looking guiltily at each other. Drew was going to have words with them later. Drew let out a silent prayer that Aimi gets off easy.

"You are going to have clean this off and not only that-"

Tantalus' voice cut off as Aimi vanished in a swirl of soft pink sparkles. The sparkles swirled away though the unmistakable soft pink glow continued to surround her. Aimi's baggy camp T-shirt and properly size jeans had vanished in exchange for a pale pink dress. The bottom was made up of hundreds of layers of tulle fabric (the sort one would see on a tutu). The upper half was a similar colored soft pink with hundreds of bright flowers that climbed up to her arms. Jutting out of her back were toy fairy wings, each wing sparkling in a hundred different iridescent colors. In her hand was a wand with a star covered in sparkles. Her hair curled around her like princess curls. On the top of her head was a tiara. Aimi looked like a real-life fairy princess.

Everyone froze. Drew used this to shove the rest of the way to her sister.

"Drew?" Aimi asked nervously. "What's going on?"

Drew noticed everyone else bowing.

"You've been claimed, darling," Drew told her sister. She pulled out her compact mirror. "Look."

Aimi looked at her reflection and down at her skirt. She spun in a happy circle.

"I'm so pretty!"

"Darling, you're gorgeous."

Aimi smiled a bright gap-toothed grin at Drew.

"All hail, Aimi Tanaka, daughter of Aphrodite, lady of the doves, goddess of love," Dionysus yawned.

All of the campers suddenly bowed. Drew stayed standing. Just because Aimi was her sister didn't mean Drew was going to get a solid pair of jeans dirty by kneeling in the grass for her.

Aimi turned concerned toward Drew. "Does this mean we won't be in the same cabin? I don't want to leave you."

She clung to Drew.

Drew hugged her back.

A soft persistent voice whispered in Drew's ear 'Take care of this one, love'

Then the world was bathed in pink again. This time, it was Drew who looked down. Her ratty camp T-shirt had been replaced with a pink t-shirt, a white eyelet vest complementing it. Her pants had been replaced with the designer jeans she'd been dreaming of ever since she'd seen them in the store. On her arm wearing a soft pink purse that both matched the background of her shirt and contained what appeared to be an assortment of cosmetics specifically chosen to match Drew's complexion.

Drew snatched her compact back from her sister. Her hair had been pulled into a high ponytail that cascaded over her shoulders. The edges twisted into elegant curls. Drew's face was a tapestry of excellently applied makeup. Any imperfections vanished or had been successfully covered in concealer. There was the perfect amount of blush. Her eyelashes were extended just as Drew had dreamed. In short, Drew had been given her dream makeover.

"Also, let's hail Dawn Tibrochi another daughter of Aphrodite." Even the grotesque mispronunciation of her couldn't quell Drew's joy.

Aimi let out an excited squeal and waved her wand. Every flower she'd graffitied on the wall suddenly sprang to life and flooded the campground.

"That'll take care of the graffiti," Mr. D. muttered as the camp suddenly burst into whispers of 'Pygmalion's gift'. "Everyone back to business while we let these two pack up and move to their new cabin."

With that, they were claimed. Drew and Aimi had a new home. A new family.