The Unknown Camper Gets Claimed

Crystal shifted awkwardly. "What?"

"Well, Daughter of Apollo, would you care to enlighten us?" Alec asked, his voice back to being dead-pan.

"Enlighten you? How?" Crystal began to feel uneasy.

"Technically you are the only child of Apollo here," Micaela stated. "Daphne's tree is sacred to Apollo, so perhaps you know where it is. Perhaps even subconsciously."

"N-No, I don't . . . I . . . I was never told where it was. I mean, how could I know if I was never told? This is all too confusing for me, and—"

"Crystal, take a chill pill and relax," Katie said. "You are way too stressed out."

"I'm not stressed! I mean, why would I be stressed?" Crystal asked, her voice straining slightly.

"You are stressed. Whenever you're stressed you say 'I mean' a lot, so just calm down and focus. Do you remember anything in your vision, anything useful?"

Crystal squirmed a little as she tried to sit still, which wasn't exactly easy for a demigod considering they all have ADHD. "Um . . . there was . . . No. I have nothing. Sorry."

"Oh, that's useful," Alec said dryly. Megan elbowed him.

"Concentrate!" Katie's voice rose a tiny bit.

"I'm trying!" Crystal protested. "It's just not there anymore! It's all fuzzy! All I remember is the laurel tree and some person doing something to it, and fireworks in the distance—"

"Fireworks? You didn't say anything about fireworks before," Katie interrupted.

"I didn't think it was important," Crystal confessed.

"Fireworks . . ." Micaela tapped her chin. "Wait, what's the date today?

"June 30th, but I don't really see—" Crystal began.

"Independence Day!" Micaela cried. "It's going to happen on Independence Day!"

"Are you sure?" Sarah asked.

"It has to be! I mean fireworks? It seems pretty clear to me. That means we only have, like, four days!"

"That's great, but where is it? We've limited it down to what? The United States? The United States is huge Micaela. It could be anywhere," Megan pointed out.

"True." Micaela looked back to Crystal. "Do you remember anything else? Anything?"

"No," Crystal rubbed her forehead, "but my head's really starting to hurt now."

"Guys, calm down," Sarah said, "maybe we should rest and then—"

"Rest? You don't understand! This is not just Apollo the sun god we're talking about, this is my father we're talking about!" Crystal shot back. "You don't understand because you haven't been claimed!"

Everyone paused.

"That's right! You haven't been claimed! But . . . I thought that Percy Jackson made a deal with the gods so that they had to claim every child they had by the time the child turned thirteen!" Micaela said.

"Chiron said he had a really good guess who my father was. He said it was one of the Big Three, but he didn't tell me who." Sarah shifted awkwardly.

"Look, I'm sorry." Crystal's voice softened. "I didn't mean to bring it up . . . I guess I'm just going through a lot of stress right now, you know? My dad's sacred tree is going to get killed in four days, then he'll stop making the sun rise and we'll all get stuck in another ice age and die. Nothing big." Crystal gave a laugh.

"She's lost it," Alec said matter-of-factly. "She has lost her mind."

Crystal snapped out of her crazed state. "I have not."

"Look," Isaac stepped forward. "Sarah is right, we need rest. I'm not sure the rest of you realize it, but we've been traveling all day. We can start again in the morning." He said it so firmly, and everyone was so shocked that he had actually talked at all, that no one dared question his suggestion. Well, not so much a suggestion as an order.

"He's got a point. It's starting to get dark. And, who knows, maybe you'll have another vision," Micaela speculated hopefully.

"Yeah, maybe . . ."

It took the campers no time at all to set up their two tents; naturally there was one for the girls and one for the guys.

"I propose we have watches," Micaela suggested. "I'll take the first watch, and we can take forty-five minute intervals until morning. See you all then." The campers disappeared into their appointed tents to attempt to find sleep as Micaela settled in against a tree to watch for monsters.

Sarah woke with a start. In the darkness she could hear Crystal mumbling something in her sleep and thrashing around.

She's probably having another vision, Sarah decided. She closed her eyes again and tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't. She sighed and climbed out of her sleeping bag. Maybe some fresh air will do me good.

She quietly crept around Megan, un-zipped the tent and crawled out into the night. The stars were twinkling and the moon shone brightly, so she could see with relative ease. She saw a figure standing close to the fire. She strained her eyes. Actually there appeared to be two figures, but for some reason the one was hard to see. Sarah took a few timid steps forward and froze. She recognized the one figure as Alec, son of Hades, but it was the other figure that stopped her in her tracks. It was a ghost. As she looked a little closer she could see that the ghost was a woman, middle-aged judging by her height, but that was all she could see. Alec sounded like he was trying not to yell. The ghost tried to say something but he cut her off. He seemed really mad and flustered about something, but it was impossible to make his words out. Sarah's breath came out shallow as she stood transfixed. She shook her head a few times.

He's not paying attention to me. I think I'll just take a walk around and come back, she glanced over her shoulder as she began creeping away and saw Alec wave his hand through the ghost, causing it to disappear.

"Where are you going?" he asked coldly without turning to face her.

"Uh . . ." Sarah decided to change the subject. "Who were you talking to?" Bad move.

Alec's shoulders tensed under his long, black trench coat. "That's none of your concern," he hissed between clenched teeth, still not turning to face her, "and if you are not a complete imbecile, which I'm sure you're not, you will never bring it up again. Where are you going?"

"Just over there," she pointed towards the trees, "I can see the ocean. I just wanted to get a closer look . . ."

"Fine, go ahead." Alec sounded like he didn't particularly care what happened to her. "Just make sure you come back alive. If you died, I would get in trouble with the other campers. And although I know I could take them all in a fight, it would be. . . inconvenient."

"Um . . . alright, thanks." Sarah turned and tore down the path towards the woods. As she pushed her way through the trees towards the sound of waves crashing, thoughts raced through her head. Who was that woman? Why was Alec mad at her? Why did he summon a ghost? How is this possible? She wasn't really paying attention to her surroundings, and she lost her footing. She tumbled down the hill and landed face-first on the ground, obtaining a mouthful of sand.

"Gross!" Sarah exclaimed as she spat it out. Looking around, she saw that she was lying on a sandy beach bordered by the ocean. She stood up slowly. "Ow!" Her legs were stinging from the tiny cuts she had gotten from her tumble, and the sand only made them hurt more. "I'll just go wash them off." She said out loud to no one in particular. She sat down near the edge of the water and let the waves lap over her legs. They instantly began to feel better. Sarah sighed in contentment. No matter where she went, the water always seemed familiar to her.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Sarah turned and saw a man sitting beside her. He had a short black beard and wore a Bermuda shirt and khaki pants; however it was his eyes that caught Sarah's attention. They were a perfect mix of blue and green, just like the sea, and matched hers.

Why didn't I notice him before? She wondered.

"The ocean, I mean," the man continued. He looked at her. "What are you doing out here all alone?"

"Um. . . I just needed to get away from the others." Sarah ran her fingers through her sandy blonde hair. Her mother had always warned her about talking to strangers, but there was something vaguely familiar about this man. "You know, away from the fighting and the responsibilities. I saw the ocean and . . . Well, it's soothing for me just to watch it."

"Ah, I see." The man's eyes twinkled. "Why is that?"

"Well, it's beautiful and mysterious, it's gentle, but it's also very mighty, and it's the only place that feels like home to me."

The man nodded, as if this answer pleased him.

"If you don't mind me asking, who are you?" Sarah asked.

The man smiled. "That I'm going to keep to myself, but I'm sure you'll figure it out."

Sarah narrowed her eyes. "You're here to tell me something, aren't you? What?"

"The path ahead is going to be difficult, but you can't give up on your friends. They don't realize it yet, but you're important. Just remember, you are loved and you are not an outcast."

"And?" Sarah prodded.

"That's it." The man smiled again. "You'll do great. I know it. As well, I see that you're a little short of transportation. Don't worry; I'll talk to a friend of mine about it. He's . . . in the traveling business. Oh, and by the way, I'm sorry it took so long for me to claim you, but you're a hard girl to track down, even for a god."

"Even for a god?" Sarah pondered this for a moment. "Wait a minute . . ." She turned around, but the man was gone and it was just as quiet as it had been before. The only sound was that of the lapping waves. "Poseidon?"

"Sarah!" a voice cried.

Sarah turned around and saw Katie and Micaela running towards her.

"What are you doing? We were worried that a monster had gotten you or—" Katie froze. "Holy crap!"

"What?" Sarah asked. Then she followed Katie's eyes. Hovering above her head was a trident, glowing green against the night sky. The symbol of Poseidon.

"Looks like you just got claimed."