Callie's POV

I woke up at around six PM and yelped when I found someone's face just a few inches from my own. Sitting up, I beheld a small girl about five years old staring at me with a giant smile on her face. She had brown curls pulled back with a big blue bow, bright cheery eyes under upturned eyebrows, and an orange t-shirt with "Camp Half-Blood" written across the chest.

"Who the heck are you?" I asked as my heartbeat returned to normal.

"Crystal," she replied, giving me no further explanation for her behavior. "You talk when you sleep," she informed me.

I shook off my surprise and looked over at Tarah. She was still out cold, curled in a ball so she only took up about a third of the sleeping bag. I grinned and poked her until she woke up. She smacked my hand away and rolled over.

"The nuns aren't up until 7, give me five more minutes," she mumbled.

I rolled my eyes and shouted, "Tarah! We're almost late for the book sale! Get up!"

She jumped up out of her bag and shouted, "WHERE'S MY WALLET?!" Then she realized where we were and punched me. "Jerk," she grumbled.

"Love you too!" I trilled. Crystal giggled, and Tarah noticed her for the first time.

"I'm Crystal! Andy sent me to tell you it's dinner time. He also said to tell Tarah something about looking under his bed? Is there secret treasure? Are you pirates? Do you have a parrot? What is your favorite color? Wanna be my friend?" the little girl was talking faster than an auctioneer.

"Ummm, ok, no, I wish, no, blue, and...sure?" Tarah counted off each question on her fingers. Crystal giggled and clapped her hands before plopping down on my sleeping bag criss-cross applesauce.

Tarah got down on her knees and peered under the bed next to us. She smiled and pulled out her bag and mine, along with a note that said, "Hermes is the patron god of thieves, be more careful. See you at dinner! -Andy"

"He better not have taken anything," I said as I examined the contents of my bag. Nothing was missing, but to be safe, I brought it along with me. "Ok, so where's dinner?" I asked Crystal.

"Come with me!" she exclaimed. She grabbed my hand and pulled me behind her out of the cabin, Tarah jogged along behind us.

As we neared the dining area, I noticed that there were no walls. I also noticed that some tables were filled beyond capacity while others only had two or three occupants. Crystal pulled me over to the fullest table where we squeezed in on the end.

After a few minutes, a big guy wearing a Hawaiian shirt stood up at the front table and everyone went silent.

"That's Dionysus, he is in charge of camp," Crystal whispered to us.

"I suppose I'm required to introduce our new campers," he announced, sounding less than welcoming. "Everyone meet Tasha Frosty and Cory Thomson or something like that." Chiron cleared his throat, and whispered something in Dionysus' ear. "Fine, Tarah Foster and Callie Thomas. Now can we please start dinner?"

Chiron nodded and suddenly several girls with flowers braided into their hair, wood nymphs I think, served us our food. Just as they finished, everyone started to get up and bring their plates to the giant fire. They then proceeded to toss a portion of their meal into the blaze before returning to their seats.

"Uh, what's happening?" Tarah asked Crystal as we followed her toward the fire.

"Burnt offerings, it's for the Gods. Just scrape in some food and pray, it's easy."

We slowly made our way to the front of the line and I threw in some of my steak. Not knowing who to pray to, I decided on thanking Hermes for letting me crash in his cabin. Then I waited for Tarah to finish her own sacrafice-thing before we returned to our seats. However, much to my dismay, no sooner had we sat down than Andy pushed himself between us on the bench.

"Grape Nehi," he suddenly announced to his cup. At first I thought he was just being weird, but suddenly his glass filled itself to the brim with purple soda. He took a large sip before turning to me.

"So, Cory, did you enjoy your nap?" he asked. Then he stole my biscuit off my plate.

"Shut up," I said as I grabbed it back from him.

"No, seriously, you missed out on the grand tour. I was going to show you the rock wall, the ampitheater, and especially the stables! You like horses, right?" He teased as he ate his steak.

"I said shut up, will you?" I grumbled.

I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks as he continued to pester me about horses. Finally, after a poke at my sleep-talking, I snapped.

"Shut it!" I exclaimed, and just like that, something zapped Andy's shoulder and knocked him right out of his seat. He landed about five feet away, and the dining area fell silent.

Everyone was staring at me, or rather, at something above me. I looked up and saw a bright lightning bolt hovering over my head. I watched it fade away, but everyone continued to stare at me. Andy didn't even get up from where he had fallen, he just gawked at me from the floor.

Finally, Chiron motioned for me to come up to the head table. I timidly made my way toward the activities director, aware of the sustained silence and wide eyes focused on me.

"Chiron, what was that?" I whispered once I reached his seat.

"That, my dear, was your claiming. It seems you are the child of Zeus. Consequentially, you must change seats and meet your siblings," he motioned toward one of the less-packed tables off to the right, where two small boys and a girl sat smiling at me. I thanked Chiron and quietly made my way to my new seat. By that time everyone had returned to their meals and conversations. I glanced at Tarah and noticed her smiling at me. Andy was nowhere to be seen.

I nervously sat down next to the girl. She was tall with black hair, and she had dimples just like me. Her eyes were bright blue like the other two boys at the table. They both looked pretty young, but the smaller boy looked exactly like the other. Both had bright blonde hair and they both were short and stocky.

"Hey, my name is Sasha Meyers. Looks like we're half-sisters!" the girl shook my hand and smiled like she was genuinely pleased to meet me.

"Nice to meet you," I replied quietly.

Sasha nodded at the boys. " That's Jerry Stark and his little brother Taylor. Boys, say hi to Callie."

"Hi" they both said simultaneously. Then Jerry peered at my wrist intently.

"Is that a Thor wristband?" he exclaimed.

I held up my wrist so he could see my bracelet better. It was one of those rubber things you could buy for two bucks at most clothes stores. This one was my favorite because it had a picture of Mjölnir, Thor's hammer, on it. "He's my favorite superhero." I informed him.

"Our's too!" Taylor piped up from behind his brother. I was starting to like these kids. I've never had much of a family besides Tarah and Natasha before. Who knows? Maybe I'll like it here after all.

Dinner ended and I followed everyone to the campfire. I sat next to Tarah and told her all about my new siblings.

"Well, I'm glad that you're bonding with your brothers, but come on. Iron Man is obviously waaay cooler than Thor."

"Yeah right, Thor can summon lightning! Iron Man only blows stuff up with his suit." I laughed. This was an age old debate of ours, and it was mainly just teasing. But still, Thor trumps Iron Man any day.

Just then, campfire songs started. They were pretty bizarre ones too, ranging from "Down by the Aegean" to my personal favorite, "She'll be coming 'round Olympus." The Apollo cabin led the songs, and Sam even brought out a guitar and played along with everyone. I looked at Tarah and started cracking up at the expression on her face. She looked as if she had just come out of her favorite book store only to find an arcade right next door.

"You've got a cruuuush!" I trilled quietly.

"Shut up!" she replied as she rolled her eyes.

Not two seconds later, Andy appeared and sat next to me. My cheeks turned red when I saw the bright white bandage on his shoulder covering up the burn I gave him. Tarah discreetly poked my side and gave me a stern look. I sighed.

"Sorry for the burn," I muttered.

"No problem...Sparky." Andy gave me a sly grin.

I gritted my teeth in frustration, but otherwise I ignored his new nickname for me.

I noticed that Sam had finished the song and was now putting away his guitar. Next to me, Tarah got up.

"Where are you going?" I asked her as she shouldered her bag.

"Nowhere important. Listen, I'll see you tomorrow morning at breakfast. Good luck with your new cabin mates!" she slipped unnoticed past the rest of the campers and disappeared into the darkness.

Andy tapped me on the shoulder and I turned to see him holding two marshmallow sticks. He offered me one and I took it. I was slightly suspicious, expecting the marshmallow to explode in my face, but it remained a fluffy white pillow of goodness, so I deemed it safe enough to roast. We sat quietly for a few moments, but then I remembered something I wanted to ask him.

"How did you know? To come get us I mean."

"You mean at the orphanage?" he asked as he plucked his golden-brown marshmallow off the stick and popped it in his mouth. "Nat told me. We have this sort of...well this sort of link. It lets us communicate when we aren't near each other. It's called an empathy link."

"Empathy link? Well can't you use it to find her?" I asked, suddenly hopeful.

"I should have been able to, except something is blocking it. Someone doesn't want me to know where she is." Andy replied, he looked frustrated, worried, sad, angry, and restless all at the same time.

The worst part was I felt the exact same way.

Campfire ended, and I was supposed to head back to Zeus cabin. I looked toward the ocean, and I saw two figures walking. I recognized Sam's guitar case and laughed as I realized "nowhere important" was apparently code for sneaking off with a boy. Go figure.

"Well, look's like they're having fun," Andy said as he walked up next to me.

"Mhmm," I replied quietly.

"Callie?" He asked, turning his attention to me. "You alright?"

"What? Oh, yeah, fine. Gotta get to my cabin! Uh, which one is it again?" I blushed as I realized I had forgotten to ask Sasha about it.

He laughed, "Come on, I'll show you." He led me to the largest cabin in the area, a giant white marble building that looked like it belonged in Washington DC. The two massive front doors were made out of shining bronze. They shimmered and flashed, almost like lightning had been trapped in the metal.

Andy walked with me all the way to the front door.

"Thanks," I told him as I reached for the door.

"Night Sparky!" he replied. I turned to glare at him, but he was already gone.

I opened the doors and stopped dead. There was no ceiling. Or maybe the ceiling was just enchanted to show the sky, because every star was clearly visible, which shouldn't be possible this close to New York City. Torches lit with blue fire lined the walls, making the white marble glow. In the center of the room was a giant 20 feet tall colorful statue of a man in a toga holding a giant lightning bolt and a shield at his side. He looked like one of those body-builders you see on magazine covers, one with an obsession for greek togas. He had dimples barely visible under his giant grey beard, but other than that I looked nothing like the guy.

The beds were marble as well, built right into the wall like little cubbyholes. Each had a sky-blue curtain that you could pull across the opening if you wanted privacy. Some were higher in the wall than others and could only be reached with ladders.

The boys it seemed were already in bed, the curtains pulled over their cubby holes and flashlights illuminating the silhouettes of the little boys playing with action figures.

Sasha was on her bed listening to music and looking at a magazine with her curtain open. She looked up when I came in and smiled. "Do you like it? We re-did most of the interior when we realized there would be more campers living here. You know, got rid of that annoying thunder, added some torches, the usual stuff. These alcoves originally held giant golden eagle statues, but we removed those. They make wicked beds, don't you think? Pick any one you want, lights out is in ten minutes."

I smiled at her and nodded. Looking around the room, I chose the highest bed, about nine feet off the ground. I climbed up the ladder and found a space about five feet wide and six and a half feet long. A sliding door at the foot of the bed revealed a shelf to put my stuff.

I wasn't very tired, but I changed into my pajamas anyway. About five minutes later, Sasha called "lights out" and the torches automatically extinguished themselves. The only light came from the moon and stars. I pulled the curtain shut and laid on my back in the darkness with nothing but my thoughts.