At the arrival of this muscular boy, I had a shocking revelation about humankind (or demigod-kind, however you want to think of it). When muscular, good-looking gods have children with (presumably) equally good-looking humans, the offspring is one sexy hunk of beautiful, half-godly homo sapien. And this guy was no exception.

"Is everyone okay? There was a lot of noise coming from back here," the blond kid said, glancing from me to Kynan to Chiron. We were laughing like idiots, but I didn't think we were that loud.

"In the future, you might not want to investigate strange noises coming from a bathroom. Whoever is making the noise probably does not want to be interrupted," Kynan pointed out, completely deadpan. Damn, he took the words right out of my mouth.

When I first met him, he seemed like a straight-laced hard ass. It was probably because I stole his wallet and he was chasing me . . . that may have had something to do with it. But it turned out, he was pretty chill and had a few decent one-liners- not anywhere near my level, but respectable enough.

The meanings seemed to sail straight over Chiron's head, but the blonde kid sure didn't miss it. His blue eyes widened considerably, and he stared at Kynan in shock. Kynan simply smirked, looking all too pleased with himself.

"Spoken like a true prostitute, Kynan!" I smiled smugly. That'll knock him off his high horse, I thought. Blondie, if possible, looked even more surprised, taking a step or two away from us. His mouth opened and closed several times like a fish without making noise, and he looked to Chiron for confirmation. Chiron's face said only one thing: I will never get any peace, not with these two around.

Kynan grumbled a few profanities under his breath, irritation rolling off him in waves. He turned to hurl a sharp-tongued comeback at me, but I gave him no time, saying pleasantly, "It's not very polite to cuss around a lady, Kynan."

"If you're a lady, then I'm Madonna," Kynan snarked, still pissed about getting called a prostitute again. I was never going to let him forget that one, not as long as it annoyed him so much. I liked seeing him annoyed.

"I knew you looked familiar."

Irked that I one-upped him yet again, he retorted proudly, "Screw Madonna, I'm Michael Jackson."

I honestly did know what he meant by that, but I feigned ignorance. "What, dead?"

"I hate you."

"I love you too, sweetheart!" Man, how I loved to rile people up. Especially him. There was something so deliciously satisfying about it. Because he took the bait every single time.

Chiron seemed to think it was time we ended our conversation. "Jason, these are our two new campers, Lissie and Kynan." With a hand on each of our backs, he gently propelled us closer to Jason and added, "I'm afraid that I have some pressing business to attend to. . . . Jason, could you kindly complete the tour for me?"

Jason visibly balked at the idea and I realized what was going on. Pressing business? Chiron was just sick of us! I mean, yeah, it was understandable, but I still couldn't help being a touch offended. Well then, we'd just make him regret it.

Trouble was my middle name. Well, it was Claire, but same difference. Claire from Heroes caused some issues, with being indestructible and all: she was trouble. She was my inspiration- besides the whole cheerleader thing, but who didn't love the "save the cheerleader, save the world" storyline?" Yeah, I digress, sue me.

"Sure Chiron, no problem," Jason said finally. Chiron gave the blonde a pat on the back of thanks, and made haste to trot back to the Big House. I smiled deviously and Jason only paled. This hot blond dude did not know what he was in for.

"So, uh, what's Lissie short for?" Jason asked, shifting his weight from foot to foot awkwardly.

"What, so Lissie's not a name in itself? Wow, I see how it is." Before he could stammer out a protest, I chirped, "Felicity. So, what's next in the tour? C'mon, guys, we don't have all day! We have to be chosen by God to be the next Jesus or something. I don't know. What did Chiron say again?"

Kynan broke out into laughter again and Jason looked like he was seriously contemplating jumping off a cliff. "I obviously wasn't listening too carefully, Lissie."

Oh right, the whole mortal verses godly parent thing he was all worried about. He was listening even less than I was! "Um, I'm pretty sure Chiron was talking about you two being claimed by godly parents, not . . . your theory."

We took up a leisurely walk and Kynan inquired curiously of Jason, "So, who's your godly parent?"

"Well, I'm Roman, so my dad's Jupiter, not Zeus." Huh. I guess that's no weirder than having a Greek godly parent. Whatever.

"Wait, if you're Roman then why're you at a Greek camp?" Kynan pressed.

See, I only knew this Jason guy for a minute or so and he already rubbed me the wrong way (only because he seemed so uncomfortable around us) but I decided to hark on Kynan again 'cause . . . why not? "Wow, Ky, so you'd rather him be segregated? Tut tut, it's 2015."

Believe it or not, I was a perceptive person and I noticed the slight falter in his step. I had been ribbing him since I'd met him and he just let it roll off him, but not this one. "Don't call me Ky," he said through clenched teeth.

The gears turned in my head. Why would he have a problem with that? Why . . . why . . . OH. His mom . . .

Sobering up, I instinctively shifted over to him and murmured, "Sorry, Kynan, I didn't know that bothered you. I won't call you that."

His shoulders loosened up and he gave me a soft smile. "Thanks."

A teenage girl suddenly appeared in my field of vision, running toward us with her rich, dark brown hair flowing behind her like a mane. She was surprisingly beautiful, like, model-level beautiful. "Jason, I was looking for you!" she exclaimed, then took Kynan and I in. "Oh, hi. Jason, who are your friends?"

"Our tour keeps getting interrupted," I whined under my breath and Jason shot me a sort of warning glare. Aw hell no. You're hot, but keep acting like that and you're gonna get some of your sexy points subtracted.

Drool might as well have been pouring from Kynan's mouth and his face was as scarlet as a cherry. I narrowed my eyes. It was funnier for me when I made him blush. This was just bullcrap. "Uh, hi, I'm, um, gah . . ."

"Having a stroke?" I dryly finished for him and Jason and the brunette had to turn their heads away to hide their laughter.

As Kynan proceeded to send death glowers my way, Jason threw his arm around the girl's shoulders and introduced, "This is my girlfriend, Piper, and Piper, these are Kynan and Lissie. They're very . . . interesting."

"I want that written on my tombstone." Then, I added thoughtfully, "Along with Superwhovian."

Kynan scoffed, "Good God, girl, how do you watch these shows if you live on the streets?"

Dutifully ignoring Jason and Piper's looks of surprise, I replied hotly, "I know people who have TVs!"

Wisely changing the subject, Piper queried, "So, uh, anyway, how old are you two?"

"I just turned thirteen, and he's thirteen too, probably," I said before he could spout some false age and make a fool of himself.

"So am I," he said, a little crestfallen now that he couldn't impress her more. Hah.

"That means you'll probably be claimed very soon," Piper said, and my ears perked up. Say what now? "The gods made a deal with Percy that they have to claim their children by the age of thirteen. Maybe, if you're really lucky, they'll choose you tonight!"

I didn't really know how to feel about that. A part of me was excited, sure, but gaining a brand new parent? A little weird. Especially considering he was a total deadbeat dad. If he cared about me at all, he would've visited me after my mom died. But he didn't, and I didn't know if I could ever forgive him for that.

"Who's your godly parent?" I asked Piper once the silence lasted a few moments too long.

She hesitated a second before answering, "Aphrodite."

"The goddess of love and beauty?" Kynan gasped. Whoa, whoa, back it up. Why did he know all this mythology crap? All I know is that satyrs were goat-human thingies (someone must have had a really strange fetish in the ancient Greek days, maybe it was normal then?) and a few well-known gods like Zeus and Poseidon. But that was literally it. No more- zero, zilch, nada.

"Something like that," she muttered, a pale pink creeping up to her cheeks. "But that doesn't matter. What does matter is- who put those turquoise streaks in your hair? I love them!"

I blinked in surprise then smiled a little shyly. "Oh, uh, thanks. I just know a person. Sort of friends with them. She did it for me."

Well, now that conversation was virtually over and we all just stood there, staring at each other. Kynan was fidgeting and stealing glances at Piper (what an amateur), and I could feel the awkwardness settling on my shoulders. Jason and Piper seemed less uncomfortable than Kynan and I, but they had each other for support, and couples were just like that.

I had to say something to break the silence. "So, should we continue the tour before my hair turns gray with age? Then I'll have to get more streaks."

The tension snapped like it'd been cut with scissors.

"Yeah, sure," Jason said, turning around and leading us onward. To our left was a large, calm lake. A group of campers paddled across its surface in canoes, grinning and laughing away.

Laughing was the last thing I wanted to do right then. My limbs were frozen, my eyes glued on the shimmering blue waves lapping at the beach shore. So . . . relentless.

I hated all kinds of water with a burning passion, after . . . the incident.

Bang! The phone slipped from my mom's grip onto the hardwood floor. "Oh my gosh."

I hesitantly scurried over to her, picking up the phone to toy between my fingers. "Mom, what's wrong?"

A huge, blinding grin lighted up her face . . . such a beautiful smile, a smile that I vowed to never forget. I had her smile, and her dimples. "Oh, Lis . . ."

I took a moment to process what had her so happy and then I shrieked in exuberance. "YOU GOT IN?!"

"Yes!" she cried and I jumped into her arms, giggling as she swung me around, twirling on the balls of her feet like a ballerina. I buried my face into her fiery red hair.

Placing me down and smoothing the bangs out of my face, she said with barely contained excitement, "They want my art, Lis! My paintings are going to London! I'm going to have my very own art gallery!"

We screamed together and I jumped into her arms again, tears of happiness rolling down both of our cheeks. "You did it, you did it, YOU DID IT!"

Several months later . . .

"Mom, they're letting us use our own private jet?!" I was beside myself with joy.

"That's part of the perks of being a semi-famous artist," my mom said playfully, holding my hand as we climbed into the jet together.

"Maybe I'll be next," I said thoughtfully and she smiled down at me.

"I have no doubts. One day, you might be the most famous artist in all the realms." She waved her hand above us dreamily and I giggled, leaning my head against her side.

"I sure hope so. . . ."

She planted a kiss on the crown of my head as we sat down. "I have the highest hopes for you, baby. I love you so much."

I threw my arms around her neck and murmured into her hair, "I love you, too." For some reason, I had this foreboding, ominous feeling that something bad was going to happen. . . .

A couple hours later . . .

Another wave of sea water crashed over my head and I was shoved underneath the fearsome surface. Fighting my way back up, I found the strength to shout between my sobs, "Mom?! Mom, where are you? I can't find you!"

The pilot was dead, probably killed the second the plane met the Atlantic Ocean. But my mom was missing, and I hoped with every fiber of my being, in my heart of hearts, deep within my soul that she was still alive.

Another wave sucked me down and I flailed about, holding my breath as well as I could go. And what was when I saw it.

A flash of bright red next to me. Using the last of my energy, I swam over to the flowing red and blindly groped around until my hand made contact. . . .

It was my mom's body. She was dead. "Mom, no, please, NO!" Against my best efforts, she sank beneath the surface. "Mommy, don't leave me! MOM!"

She disappeared into the depth of the stormy waters and I succumbed to the ever so powerful waves, slipping into unconsciousness.

I welcomed the darkness.

"Whoa, you guys have a lake? Can we go swimming? Hey, Lis-" Kynan suddenly stopped short. The look of reckless excitement on his face vanished like he'd seen a ghost.

"Hey, Lissie, are you all right?" He jogged over and placed a hand hesitantly on my shoulder. I jumped at his touch. In the moment our eyes made contact, a look of understanding washed over him. I fought with everything in me to keep my tears at bay.

Kynan's tone was soft as he said, "Lissie, whatever it is, you're okay now. This is a safe place, remember? Let's keep going with the tour. Piper said something about a climbing wall that spews lava, but I don't really believe her. . . ."

Kynan began to ramble. I didn't pay attention to what he said specifically, but he'd managed to snap me out of my memories. As he steered me away from the shoreline, I smirked; I needed sarcasm. Nothing boosted the spirits like some good old sarcasm.

"Lava? You mean I get to burn you both physically and verbally? This might be my new favorite place," I said with a broad grin. Kynan scowled, but it was obviously half-hearted. Somewhere inside, he was still worried about me.

A minute later, we walked past an enormous amphitheater. We didn't go inside, but Jason explained that we would get to see it tomorrow after dinner, since we had an activity planned for tonight.

"What kind of activity? A Doctor Who marathon would be great. I could use some Matt Smith in my day; no day is complete without Matt Smith!" I stated firmly, bouncing on the balls of my feet as I walked. "Except Capaldi took over. He's not bad so far, but he's no Smith or Tennant or even Eccleston."

Piper laughed. "As great as Doctor Who is, that's not what we're doing. On Friday nights, the whole camp gets together to play Capture the Flag, Camp Half-Blood style!"

"What exactly is Camp Half-Blood style?" Kynan inquired, looking suspicious.

"Everyone wears armor, and we can use weapons. The goal is the same as normal Capture the Flag, to take possession of the opposite team's flag, but here there's more strategy, and some campers have magical items they can use to help them succeed," Jason explained. "Speaking of which, we should try to hurry this up. Dinner's in just over an hour, and we still have to get you two through the armory and settled into the Hermes cabin."

"So is Hermes our godly parent, then? Kynan, what's he the god of?" I asked, somewhat sourly. Jason and Piper shared a look that obviously said They're new, they'll learn soon enough.

Kynan got one of his plotting grins on. "This is just perfect for you, Lissie. Hermes is the god of messengers and thieves, so you'll feel right at home."

I stuck my tongue out at him immaturely. "I'll tell you one place you won't be calling your home. You sure as hell ain't going to Aphrodite's cabin." It took him a moment to register my words and then he glared daggers at me.

We stopped in front of two tall walls of rock. A few campers were currently scaling the climbing walls amid waterfalls of lava. Judging by the smoking holes in some of their shirts, it was actual burn-you-alive lava. As I was watching, the two walls suddenly rushed forward and smashed against each other. Two campers fell off and plummeted toward the ground.

"This is like the story about the Symplegades, but without the bird and boat, right?" Kynan asked excitedly. He was watching the climbing wall with some kind of eager, possibly sadistic fascination.

"Simple gates? That doesn't look simple to me, Kynan," I scoffed. Inside, I was wondering what the hell he was talking about. It was probably something mythology related, but that didn't hinder it from irking me. This showing me up in Greek mythology had to be stopped.

Jason stared at Kynan with surprise, and maybe a little respect. "I guess so. Maybe you're an Athena child; you know the myths pretty well, don't you?"

"No, definitely not Athena," Kynan answered flatly, his tone indicating there would be no further discussion of this topic. They call this a safe place, but all it's done for Kynan and I so far is bring up some bad memories. I'm not writing a good performance review, definitely not five stars. Would not recommend.

"How do you know what the Symplegades are, Sparky?" Piper asked. The brunette looked genuinely confused.

"They're part of the myths about Jason, the first one, and the Argonauts," Jason replied. Piper nodded, and the four of us crossed the river to continue our tour. The two older campers pointed out the mess hall, where we'd have dinner in a little while. It was a big, open air pavilion with Greek columns all around and lots of dining tables.

Next were the cabins. They were arranged in the shape of a Greek letter omega, with twenty-six cabins total. Jason led us around, pointing out each cabin and naming the god whose children it housed. Each cabin was based on Greek architecture, but had some stylistic choices of its own that made it unique from all the others.

We stopped outside the Hermes cabin. "This is where the two of you will be staying. Cabin 9, led by the Stoll brothers, Connor and Travis. When we're done at the armory, we'll take you two back here, and then your head counselors will be in charge of you."

"You want me to sleep in the same cabin a hooker boy over here? What kind of camp is this? Do you want me to get STDs?" I demanded of Jason, then settled back with a smirk to watch the aftereffects. Piper spluttered in shock and stared wide-eyed at Kynan while Jason turned red and rubbed his temples in exasperation.

Kynan rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, sweetheart, the doctor says I'm all clear. It's all good, I'm clean."

"Connor and Travis'll get a real kick out of these two," Piper muttered under her breath, just loud enough for us to hear. My plan to sow mass mischief was succeeding.

"The day I do anything remotely like that at all with you will be the day pigs fly," I scowled, crossing my arms determinedly.

Kynan raised his eyebrows and laughed confidently. "Ever heard of Chrysaor? Pigs already did fly."

Aw, shit, he got me that time. But I won't go down without a fight!

"Chrysaor was a boar, but they're very similar," Jason explained. Oh yes! Sexy points for saving my butt! I smirked at Kynan in a "take that" kind of way.

"Just you wait, Lissie. We just found out we're half Greek god, I'm sure flying pigs aren't impossible," Kynan said confidently.

"Okay, fine, allow me to rephrase. Me doing anything like that with you will be the day Friends gets a reboot series." His face fell- I stumped him.

As we walked on to continue the tour, Piper pulled me back a few steps.

"You may want to keep that one away from the Hecate cabin," Piper informed me, then gave me a clap on the back and jogged to catch up with Jason. I gave the cabins a parting glance and followed suit.

Next on the tour was a building that kind of resembled the Roman Coliseum. The ground around it was vibrating, as if the place was generating its own miniature earthquakes. Jason called it the Swordplay Arena, then led us inside.

The moment we set foot inside, an enormous black shape charged toward us. It moved too fast for me to see what it was, but I was reminded of the monster we'd faced earlier today in the alleyway, and jumped backward, knocking Kynan over in the process.

"What the hell-" Kynan grumbled. The black shape continued to advance. I scrambled further back, looking around for some kind of weapon. It was a swordplay arena, surely there was some kind of sharp blade handy. But no, there was nothing. I'd just have to use Kynan as a shield.

Before I could move away from the black creature any more, a large pink thing appeared and licked me head to toe. It was a tongue. I wiped the slobber away from my eyes and glanced up to analyze what kind of monster killed its victims via excessive drool. As it turned out, said animal would be a dog; a very large, black dog the size of a garbage truck. "Hello there, doggie thing, may I ask you an important question? Are you by any chance related to Kynan over there?"

If Kynan had a sword in his hands, I was quite certain he'd use it to decapitate me.

"Lissie, Kynan, meet Mrs. O'Leary. She belongs to Percy," Jason explained. Mrs. O'Leary sat down, causing a tremor which upset my balance. Every time her wagging tail hit the ground, more vibrations shook the earth.

"Why doesn't that surprise me? Is she a hellhound?" Kynan asked. I realized our legs were still entangled from me knocking him over, and promptly stood myself up. He got to his feet after me, giving Mrs. O'Leary a suspicious gaze.

"Yes, but don't worry, she only hurts monsters and the practice dummies." Piper and Jason had both somehow dodged the hellhound's greeting, and now stood safely off to one side.

Mrs. O'Leary woofed at me. Now that I knew she wasn't a danger, I ran forward to pet the enormous black canine. Looking around at the rest of the swordplay arena, I saw a stash of practice blades off to one side, along with what looked like an entire army of swordplay dummies.

After another minute of rubbing Mrs. O'Leary behind the (very large) ears, Jason called out, "So, are you two ready for the armory?"

"Oh hell yeah!" I yelled, waving goodbye to Mrs. O'Leary as I ran out of the swordplay arena, forcing Jason, Piper, and Kynan to chase after me. "I have no idea where I'm doing. Someone, direct me!"

Jason, with his considerably longer legs and stride, caught up with me and none too gently yanked me back by my shoulder. "Don't run off and get yourself into trouble," he warned me seriously.

"But that's, like, my life," I complained and he just paraded me along. "That's how I get things done. Act first, think later, hope for the best. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. Life's a gamble, y'know? Gosh, somebody should be following me around with a pen and a notepad. This is some philosophical crap right here!"

Jason slapped the palm of his hand against his forehead. "Kynan," I yelled over my shoulder. "That's your new job. Mark down my quotes for when they'll be famous later."

He jogged forward to walk side-by-side with me and, amused, told me, "You know, you were onto something there and then you ruined it."

"Yeah, I know," I admitted sullenly. He didn't have to rub it in.

Kynan smirked and fell silent. We walked along the edge of a large field of strawberries, the field where I had my snack earlier. Satyrs walked among the bushes, playing songs on sets of pipes.

"Is it just me, or do the strawberries like pipe music?" I wondered aloud, eyeing the strawberry plants suspiciously. I could've sworn they were dancing in response to the satyrs' music.

Kynan frowned. "In that case, the strawberries have poor taste in music." I nodded in agreement.

"Wait, so do we get weapons?" I asked Jason and Piper hopefully. They both looked at me dubiously.

"I don't know if that's the best idea. . . ." Jason trailed off and I sulked. He seemed to feel a little bad then so he appeased, "We'll work it out. I'm sure we can find you something. You're just kind of small for your age, though your enthusiasm makes up for it."

I shrugged; he was right, I was small for my age. People always viewed my appearance with ambiguity. Some had said that I looked a couple years younger than I was, a select few thought I was a bit older, but most thankfully just took me for my age: recently turned thirteen. In sum, I just looked like a small, somewhat dainty thirteen-year-old. Dainty, of course, before I opened my mouth and showed otherwise.

I heard the armory before I saw it. The clanging of metal was unmistakable. When it came into view, I sucked in a breath. Boy, it was impressive. "Damn," I whispered, stepping back a few feet to take it all in.

"So that's the armory," Kynan breathed just as quietly, in the same state of awe as me. At first glance it was nothing more than an ordinary tool shed, but one door had been left open, and inside was the largest assortment of deadly weapons I'd ever encountered.

"It's like a TARDIS for weapons!" I shouted, running inside despite Jason's feeble warnings. Swords, knives, bow and arrows, even guns. . . .

"Jeez Lissie, calm down. You're like a kid in a candy store," Kynan pointed out. The annoyance in his voice was clearly forced; he was enjoying this just as much as I was. When I managed to tear my eyes away from a set of throwing knives, I found him fingering a collection of swords appreciatively.

"Where are your sonic screwdrivers?" I demanded of Jason, rummaging through a box of blades on the floor.

Jason shut his eyes for a moment to regain his patience. "You know, you're going to be the sole reason I start watching that- just to understand all of your references." I grinned proudly.

The first thing that caught my eye was a shotgun and I charged for it. Jason caught me by the wrist and simply said, "No. Pick something else. I can't in good faith give you a shotgun." I rolled my eyes- he knew nothing.

A bow and quiver full of arrows captured my attention. "That's gorgeous," I complimented, and they truly were. The chiseled bronze bow and equally bronze tips of the arrows were shined to the point where they gleamed, even in the dull lighting.

The rest of them were clearly apprehensive as I toyed with one of the arrows but they didn't have much reason to be. They didn't know anything about me, so they didn't know that while I was living on the streets for three years, somebody taught me how to shoot a gun to defend myself. That's why the shotgun appealed to me first. I had incredibly good aim, and I wasn't even trying to brag. It was fact. If I had gone through the process of getting tested and whatnot, I would have been a registered sharpshooter.

If I couldn't have the shotgun, then the bow and arrows would have to do. I picked up the quiver and slung it over my shoulder, making sure that none of the arrows fell out. The bow just felt so right in my grip, and with a smile, I swung that over my shoulder as well.

Piper walked over to me and said, "Nice weapon, Celestial Bronze. Beautiful. Chiron holds archery lessons all the time so he could teach you how to use that. Not before Capture the Flag tonight, though. I recommend having a weapon for hand-to-hand combat, for later when you're attacked and you're too close to the enemy to fire an arrow." I loved how she said "when" and not "if." Very encouraging. "Now, let's see. You're slim and small-boned, and younger than most campers to boot. I don't know how well a sword would work for you. I recommend a dagger personally, I use one."

Jason voiced his approval and led me over to where the daggers were kept. At first, they all looked the same to me but as Piper explained the differences to me, they became more apparent. I eventually picked out a long, pretty bronze dagger with a sheath and everything- to be honest, the main reason I picked it was it just radiated swagger.

"See anything you like, Kynan?" Jason asked. The boy was standing in front of a wall of swords, looking thoroughly stumped.

"I like the swords, but not the idea of a shield. . . . Don't you have any light, one-handed swords?" Kynan asked, somewhat plaintively. I rolled my eyes.

"Not that I-"

Kynan cut Jason off with a loud cry of "AHA!" He jumped toward a corner of the shed, rummaged for a minute, then pulled out two light, slightly curved swords. They were practically the same color as his hair, and glowed faintly. He swung them experimentally, prompting Jason to duck as one of the blades almost chopped off the top inch of his head.

"These ones. What are they?" Kynan asked, staring at the swords in what seemed like wonder.

"They're called katanas. Not a very popular weapon around here as they're not exactly a Greek weapon, but those are Celestial Bronze, which is quite deadly to monsters. So if those are really what you want, they'll do just fine in protecting you," Jason explained. Kynan nodded thoughtfully.

"Do they have names?" Piper asked. Kynan squinted at the blades.

"Maybe they're called 'Decapitators,'" I suggested, grinning cheekily at Jason.

He frowned at me and grumbled, "Not funny," rubbing the top of his head as he did so as if glad it was still there.

"Sundancers," Kynan read.

I couldn't help a snort. "Could they be any more cheesy?"

He caught my reference right away- like a pro. "How you doin'?" I snickered along with him as Jason and Piper couldn't look more confused. This guy . . . he understood me.

"Sounds like something made for the Apollo cabin," Jason commented, then went on, "Maybe you're an Apollo kid. Have you ever randomly started spouting poetry?"

Kynan looked at Jason as if he'd suddenly grown horns and a tail. "I'm afraid not. Sorry, but poetry isn't really my thing."

The sound of a conch horn echoed across the valley, effectively cutting off our conversation. "What's that?" I asked and Jason began leading us out of the armory.

"Dinnertime," was all he said. My stomach rumbled in satisfaction- about time! I hadn't eaten all day, for obvious reasons.

"Thank goodness! Do you know how much of a pain my stomach has been this afternoon? You even walked us past the dining pavilion earlier and didn't even bother to offer us anything! Have you no manners?" Kynan protested, wagging a finger at Jason accusingly.

Jason elected, wisely, not to respond. The four of us jogged toward the dining pavilion. Most of the camp had already arrived and was seated at long, picnic type dining tables by the time we came trotting in. Kynan and I automatically began to follow Jason and Piper, but Jason stopped us.

"No no no, you two get to eat with your cabin. I'm sure Connor and Travis will be happy to meet you," Jason said. Piper scolded him quietly enough that her exact words were concealed, but the point of her whispering was obvious.

"But we don't have a cabin," I pointed out, a little hurt. He wanted rid of us- I understood why, because I had been purposefully annoying him all afternoon, but the sting was still present. Everyone always wanted rid of me.

"No, we do, Lissie. Hermes cabin, remember? I'm going to give you STDs?" Kynan prompted.

I immediately grinned at the memory. "Ohhhh yeah. Well, stay away from me, hooker boy." With my chin held high, I vowed to find the Hermes table on my own, so, showing extreme loyalty, I ditched all of them. "Bye, my minions!"

"You can't get rid of me that easily, sweetheart!" Kynan called, running after me as the older campers shrugged and walked off.

"Yeah, you're like a bad rash." There- what a perfect way to twist the possibly romantic meaning behind his words into something funny for me.

"In that case, maybe you should keep your distance. Sources of heat tend to make rashes worse, you know," Kynan laughed. He was using his I'm playing pranks on you voice again.

The gears in my head shook off all dust and spiderwebs and began shifting around. I really could not tell what he meant by that so I chose to ignore it, for once. It wasn't worth it.

In looking back at the boy chasing me, I'd momentarily neglected to be mindful of where I was running. Naturally, that short moment of distraction resulted in me stubbing my toe into one of the tables. I was lucky a stubbed toe was all I got; I could've gone headfirst into someone's dinner. But, nonetheless, a stubbed toe was quite painful.

"Holy Shakespeare!" I cursed loudly, grabbing my afflicted toe and hopping around dramatically in pain.

"Gods of Olympus Lissie, you stubbed your toe on a table. Calm down," Kynan grumbled, coming to a halt behind me.

"Kynan," I said threateningly, "I don't need your sass." With a wince, I placed my foot back on the ground and hobbled along like Tiny Tim in the snow.

"Well, you can have it anyway, because I'm just that generous."

"I don't want it, I'm returning it!" I argued. "Did you give me the receipt?"

"Sorry Lissie, it's limited edition; you can't buy sass this fabulous in stores," Kynan replied, singsong.

That bastard bested me. Grinding my teeth and clenching my fists, I hurried past him before he could figure it out, and ran smack into two teenage boys, nearly knocking the barbeque food items out of their hands. "Oi, watch where you're goin', shorty!"

I was about to apologize to who I assumed were brothers (wait, did he call me shorty?!) when the second one cut me off with, "Wait, hold up. Black hair, turquoise hair streaks, younger than most campers, short . . ." He looked me up and down, mockingly pensive.

I narrowed my eyes- uh uh, no way was I letting that insult fly. "Who're you to mock me? J.R.R. Tolkien called, he wants his elves back!"

The two of them stared for a beat longer until they burst into laughter. "I knew it, she's that Lissie girl!" one of them chortled, the second boy. "The new camper Percy told us to watch out for! I approve, I approve. You'll fit in right nice in the Hermes cabin."

Kynan ran over to join me. "Lissie, who-"

The first brother said, "Ah, and there's the other one! Kynan, right? I'm Travis, and this is my brother Connor. We're your head counselors, for now at least. Care for some barbecue heaven?"

Kynan was momentarily stumped, but recovered his composure enough to mutter, "Sure."

A few minutes later, after scraping some of my food into a bonfire (still wasn't clear about on that one), I found myself seated at a table full of pointy-eared kids with crooked smiles and heaping servings of barbecue heaven. I felt immediately at home. Kynan sat on my right, poking suspiciously at his plate. Across from us were the Stoll brothers.

The brothers gave instructions to their golden goblets, and to my shock, they filled up right to the brim with liquids. "Uh, how'd you do that?" I asked through a mouthful of grapes.

"Just tell it what you want," Connor informed me after a huge gulp of it. "And it'll give you your order."

Kynan watched me carefully, a bite of pulled pork primed and ready on his fork. "Will it give me something alcoholic?"

"Not if you're underage. But we once wrestled one of the older campers to get us a few cups of beer. You can even give it a specific color and brand, if you're picky," Travis explained, a mischievous grin on his face.

I lifted up my cup and ordered, "Dr. Pepper and orange juice." It gurgled up and smirking, I added, "Make it . . . iridescent." Obediently, it reflected as many glimmering colors of the rainbow as it could fit. Much happier now, I swallowed down a mouthful and sighed with relief. I hadn't drank that in a while.

Kynan stabbed another bite of pulled pork, emitting waves of uncharacteristic grumpiness. He was still eyeing me and the Stoll brothers suspiciously. I thought maybe Kynan sensed the same thing I did: that here were two souls who would, rather than admonish me for breaking rules, support me in as many daring exploits as we could dream up. In that case, he had reason to fear; he'd been officially marked as a prime recipient of my pranks.

"If you're stuck on drink ideas, try nectar, Kynan. If you haven't had, you haven't lived," Connor advised, nodding toward Kynan's still-empty goblet. "Don't drink too much of it, or you might spontaneously combust and make a big mess, but a little's okay."

Kynan visibly gulped but still ordered the goblet to fill with nectar. He, then, studying the goblet's contents, asked, "What will it do to me?"

"Come on Kynan, where's your sense of adventure?" I grinned, elbowing him in the side. His eye roll did not go unnoticed by me. Multiple scenarios in which he sprouted a pig's tail or donkey ears flashed through my mind as Kynan lifted the cup to his lips and took a sip.

For a moment, his face was an expression of pure bliss. "I remember now, nectar is the drink of the gods, isn't it?" He took another sip, and sighed, "It tastes like my mom's cinnamon eggnog."

Although I was disappointed he hadn't turned into a hamster or something interesting like that, I now wanted to try some of the mysterious liquid. "Nectar," I commanded my cup. "Now make that iridescent." It barely had time to fill with the sweet fluid before I took a big gulp.

Wow, head rush. It tasted just like the highly bizarre smoothie consisting of strawberries and jalapeños my mom whipped up one boring summer afternoon. Yeah, it sounds disgusting, but it was amazing and one of the best things I had ever tasted- and it reminded me of my mom.

"Well, what's yours?" Kynan startled me out of my reverie.

"Oh, um . . . it's a smoothie, sort of. With strawberries and jalapeños." Kynan's, Travis's, and Connor's repulsed expressions were priceless as I happily sipped away at my drink.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised," Kynan muttered before continuing to brutally dismember his pulled pork.

The rest of dinner sailed smoothly and I almost didn't want it to end. Turns out, we were expected to join in their Capture the Flag game and it frightened me a little because, although I knew how to street-fight, I had absolutely no idea to fight with a sword and shield or whatever they required of us.

I managed to choke down my last bites as I gripped my fork too tightly, to the point where it shook in my hand. And then the dreaded words arrived as Chiron trotted to the center of the dining tables. "It's time for . . . Capture the flag!"

A/N: Ok, Goldie and I decided that I'm in charge of posting this story, and she's in charge of posting our Once Upon A Time story (which you should totally check out cuz it's great). Also, thank you to the guest who left us a very nice review this morning. You're awesome too, especially for being the first to review. Thanks for reading!