Chapter 3

Voices in my head tell me that I haven't died yet. I wonder why they're yelling so loud, arguing so fiercely.

"You're the bloody god of healing, there's no way you can't do more!"

"Dionysus, I'm doing everything I can!"

"Well, try harder!"

I sensed one of the voices begin pacing.

"Look, it's not my fault she jumped in front of him!"

"You could've restrained her."

"And Father didn't have to try to kill him, but he did."

"Maybe it's for the best," This was a new voice. "D, you know that your girls always cause wars."

"You can't complain about that, Ares, you love war."

"You're going to call me crazy, but I think that Kyra isn't going to cause wars, she's going to end them."

"What makes you think that?"

"Her left hand. There's an Egyptian symbol on her ring finger, some goddess on that side has chosen her. And then there's the webbing, she's destined to form an alliance with an heir of Asgard. We've all heard the prophecy."

"Are you sure? I know you thought that about your other girl too, and I don't mean to offend you, but that didn't go well. This one could easily get caught up with another man also. Possibly even another super-soldier."

"Hey, guys, come here! I think she's waking up," I could feel two fingers pressed against my neck for a pulse, odd that I couldn't feel that before. I had just been… floating. "Where's the Egyptian, she'll want to see him."

"Ares, go get Carlos," One ordered. "How is she?"

"She," I could hear a smile, "she's got her pulse back."

"Thank Grandmother Rhea," The voice was breathless with relief and a hand grazed my forehead.

"But I don't think her nerves are working properly. It's like they're asleep."

"Well…wake them up."

"If you insist, but remember, you asked me to."

A pair of hands ran over every inch of my face and my head, then moved to my arms, and onward until they had covered every centimeter of my body.

"You don't have to enjoy it so much," One of them grumbles and the other laughs softly.

I shuddered slightly, not used to the feel of the soft bed I must be lying on, or the comforting sheet that someone had just placed over me.

"Can she open her eyes now?"

"I don't think so, that will probably take the longest. Just hope that she wasn't turned deaf, or blind."

"What about mute? Can she speak?"

"Let's find out. Egyptian, come here and see if she'll talk to you."

"Hey, Chica, how you feeling? Yeah, that wasn't the best question taking into account that you were just hit with who knows what. But thank you, you didn't have to do that."

"Yes, I did," I murmured, surprised that I remembered how to talk.

"So she can speak, and she's not deaf, all that's left is her sight."

"No, Kyra, you didn't," Carlos' voice was gently insistent. "You could be blind because of me."

"I'm not," I argued weakly.

"Can you open your eyes?"

"Uh, Egyptian that might not be the best idea, her eyes could be adjusting to something. You don't want to let too much light get to the retina."

"It's okay, I can."

Then slowly I urged the muscles of my eyes to work and my eyelids to open. When they did, the voices had faces.

Carlos, of course, Dion, Apollo, and a rather tough looking man that was probably Ares came into view. Dion's face instantly tightened in concern as he touched my cheek and studied my eyes.

"What is it, Dion?"

"Your eyes," He swallowed. "Apollo, is this normal?"

"Normal? No," He laughed slightly. "Hazardous to her health, not in the least. I've heard of this before. It's what scientists and doctors call Heterochromia Iridis. But actually it's a thing called being Graced."

"Carlos, what do my eyes look like?" I ask him, staring at him steadily.

He swallowed, "Your right eye is almost the same. Indigo, but more purple than it was before."

"And my left?"

"It's," He studied it, "it's green… and… well, Chica… it's a cat's eye."

"Oh," My hand reached up to cover it. "That's… weird."

Apollo shoots me a smile that warms me to my core, "It might alter your sight a little bit, but it won't make it worse, if anything it'll be better. We'll have to wait some before we can figure out what you're Graced with, but after that, you'll be free to do whatever."

I sit up slowly in the bed, grimacing as a pain shoots through my chest, "So… I can't leave?"

He shrugs, "I guess you could, if you wanted to."

"Really, really, wanted to," Ares says, having not taken his eyes off me since I found my sight. "You should probably actually stay here. Permanently, maybe?"

"Ares," Dion growls threateningly with a deadly glare.

He finally breaks his gaze away from me, "What?"

"Stop. Now."

"Huh? What was I doin?" He asks innocently with a shrug.

Dion shakes his head at him, "You forget that this is my daughter. Get out."

"Why?"

"Just. Go."

He sulkily obeys with one more glance towards me and I am left in a confused little puddle.

And for some reason, my mind sings:

I'm a little teapot short and stout. Here is my handle, here is my spout. When I get all steamed up, hear me shout! Tip me over and pour me out.

And suddenly I'm laughing uncontrollably.

"Carlos, Carlos," I say in between fits, "remember? Your casserole daughter! I'm a little teapot!"

And he starts laughing with me while Dion and Apollo are now the ones in the puddle.

Dion turns to Apollo, "You're sure she's okay?"

"Yes," Carlos gasps, answering for Apollo who had only shrugged, "yes, she's fine. I'd be more worried if she wasn't talking about the teapot."

"What?" Dion begins, but doesn't get to finish as I interrupt.

"Carlos, why did we have to choreograph it?" I sigh and wind up hiccupping, which just leads me into another fit.

"I don't know, Chica. Maybe you should be asking why Rohana wouldn't go to sleep without it," He says, wiping his eyes.

"And then it was all over the internet, oh I thought I would die! That was when the drug-dealer started watching me."

"And when those drunk girls broke into our room, remember? You told them, you told them to get the casserole out!" And he can't say anymore.

"It wasn't my fault! I never leave the window open! It was you, or was it Diego, or Mom?"

He claps his hands, laughing harder, "Rohana, Chica! It was Rohana!"

"Yes," I looked around the room mischievously, "yes it was, I remember now! But all she wanted was the teapot!"

And here I laugh again.

"Uh, care to let us in on this private joke?" Dion hinted, and I nodded, although unable to talk, so I motioned for Carlos to explain.

"A year or so ago," He began, with an enormous smile on his face, "Rohana was going through a faze where she couldn't go to sleep at night unless someone sang her to sleep. Her preferred chose of song happened to be "I'm a Little Teapot" and we decided (very unwisely, oh, and, Chica, that was you're idea) to make a routine. It made her laugh and then fall right asleep, but it got so bad that she wouldn't sleep, actually she would cry until we would do it for her."

"Ookay... and where do drunk girls, drug-dealers, and casserole come into this?" Apollo asks, slightly bewildered, but teasing all the same.

"Patience, my padawan," I say with a giggle. "Actually very soon. We were at a friend's house at the time, (you remember Walt, don't you, Carlos?) and had to share a room on the second floor. Unfortunately, there was a stairway outside the house that lead to our window like a fire escape and Rohana had woken up during the night and decided that we needed to sing to her again so she climbed up the stairs and opened our window somehow (I still think you actually left it open). Since we weren't quite asleep…"

"Well, we weren't quite sober either," Carlos adds with a grin and a wink.

"True. But we saw her and stumbled out of bed in our pajamas (or underwear in your case) and did something that resembled the routine. She somehow got back downstairs and into bed, while we actually fell onto the floor. Next thing I knew, there were bodies all around us, all trying to get at Carlos."

"Yeah… it was pretty nice," He reminisced, and I punched him in the arm.

"So I, being the brilliant detective that I am, decided that there was something wrong with this and that these girls didn't belong there."

Carlos laughs, "Yeah, she actually stood up and started kicking them out of the way shouting 'Get away, that's my casserole teapot! So get the casserole out!' Most of the girls dragged themselves away from me (it was very hard for them, trust me) and back down the stairs to the house next door."

"When the last had gone away, I sat down on the windowsill and started laughing, while Carlos came over to me and said, 'I'm your casserole teapot? Well, you're my casserole daughter!' And we kinda fell out of the window."

"And then you had to start singing," He reminded while rolling his eyes.

"Mhmm," I nodded, almost proudly sad, "and one of the drunk girls had to get a video of it and post it on YouTube. Then the drug-dealer had to start taking pictures of me with his cell phone," I shudder, "talk about a creepo."

Apollo laughs and whips out an iPad from somewhere unknown, "What's the name of the video? I need to watch this."

"Nooo, you don't need to watch it," I shake my head furiously. "Especially with my dad in the room."

"Hey, I'll find out somehow," Dion warns and I roll my eyes.

"It's 'I'm a Sexy Teapot'" Carlos says with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"Caarloos! Nooo! You betrayed me! How could you!" I slap him across his forehead and he starts laughing.

I turn in surprise when I hear my voice coming from Apollo's iPad, he got there really fast! Then my face turned deep crimson as his eyebrows rose in that 'wow that's hot' look and I pulled the covers over my face.

"You didn't mention that you lost your shirt," Apollo muses.

"I guess I didn't remember that part?" My voice is muffled as I continue to hide my face.

I feel Carlos leaning over the bed and guess that he's probably hiding silent laughter because he's shaking slightly and I don't think he's crying. Then his head appears under the cover with a mischievous smile.

"Ha-Ha, no you don't! This was my hiding place first!" I hiss at him lightheartedly.

He grins, "What, you embarrassed, Chica?"

"Duh!" I hit him softly in the forehead.

"Ouch," He rubs the spot, "why you gotta do that?"

"Because you're my casserole teapot!" Then I start giggling again. The song ends and I'm surprised to hear him start it over. I jerk the covers off my head, sitting up. "What are you doing?"

"I'm watching it again," Apollo's smile is just as wicked as the wink he sends me. "It's too good to watch it only once. I've gotta commit this to memory."

I groan and flop back on the bed

"I thought you only pole-danced for exercise," Dion comments dryly and I realize with horror that he's watching it too.

"I-uh-I didn't say that. I do it because I wanted to try it out. And exercise," I mumble, propping myself up with my elbows. "Besides, I wasn't myself that night!"

"Well you did amazing for not having an actual pole," Apollo flashes me a smile. "And you, Egyptian, did very well in the position of living pole. I'm impressed."

Carlos shrugged off the compliment, "It was easy. She's the one who had to do all the work."

I smile and hit him again, "Shut up."

"Okay," He agrees and I sit up.

"Can I at least get up?"

Apollo nodded, "Yeah, we would only keep you here to help you discover what your Grace was. You're perfectly healthy."

"Good," I say shortly and jump up only to fall back down on the bed. "Ow."

"You okay Kyra?" Carlos immediately asks.

"Yeah, I just," I grimace, rubbing my temple "stood up too fast."

I tried it again, this time slow and careful and managed to stay upright. Then I almost doubled over from the realization that I was starving!

"How long was I out again?"

"Five days," Dion answers with a concerned light in his eyes.

I give a weak laugh, "So that's why I'm starving!"

"Oh is that it," He smiles, waves his hand and the small bedside table is covered with fruit and other small things that I can probably keep down.

I beam and immediately grab some grapes and pop them in my mouth, "So can I do that too?"

"Do what?" Dion asks, watching me popping the round fruit like it was popcorn, or pills, with amusement.

"Make food appear. I think that'd be pretty awesome," I say, grabbing a few crackers and more grapes. "It's like, "I'm hungry" *poof* food is here."

He shrugs and a contemplative look crosses his features, "You know, I don't really know. None of my kids ever wanted to, or at least they never asked. So, I guess you could (I don't see why you wouldn't be able to) although I'm not really sure how to explain it."

"That's okay, I'll figure it out," This time I shrug and begin thinking. "So, what do people do here?"

"Well, let's see," Apollo begins with a wicked gleam in his eyes, "on Tuesday's we all get on Zeus' nerves so that he fries us with electricity. Sunday's are usually spent coming back to life. And Monday's we usually have a couple new half-blood's become Graced. Oh, and on Friday's we all go out and pole dance to popular children's songs."

I rolled my eyes and punched him, "Well then I guess I'll fit in perfectly. Now, seriously. Would you answer the question, Dion?"

"Train."

"For…?"

"Battle. There's one coming, a big one, and we need all our warriors ready. The half-bloods are our main force, we gods help… some," He waves his hand dismissively, "But really all our hopes are on one annoying boy. The child of prophesy. I really hate him. But I guess it really just too much to ask for; Poseidon always liked women too much to stay away from them for more than seventy-five years. To be honest, all of us do!" He laughs at his own joke and I give a half-smile; I'm more interested in this prophecy thing.

"So this prophecy predicts what? You guys' death? The end of the world? Unicorns that sneeze deadly poison? What are we dealing with?"

"My grandfather."

Yeeeaah…

That explained everything.

"Ohhhh," It clicked.

Kronos.

Zeus' dear old father who thought that he had eaten him when actually he ate a rock therefore probably smashing some of the immortal children already in his stomach and giving them a nasty bruise. Let's see, who all was in there? Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, and… ummm… Hestia, I believe.

"Hmm," I say thoughtfully, "that's not good."

Dion nods with a slight smile on his face, "Probably worse than any of us think. But I guess what happens, happens. "

"So, about this prophecy kid… why is it about him?"

"He's a child of the big three and he's probably going to survive to his eighteenth birthday. Although I wouldn't mind if he died."

I laugh a little, "Why don't you like him?"

"I guess it's just one of those things," He cracks a smile.

"Does that mean I won't like him?"

He thought about this and then laughed, "No. Most likely you'll sweep him off his feet and you'll be best friends."

"Ohk," I shrug with an amused smile. "Will I get to meet him?"

"I don't see why not. Of course I don't see why you'd want to either, but…"

"Now?"

"Uh, sure. If you feel up to it."

"Yay!" I clap and jump to my feet, feeling much better. "Come on Carlos!"

I grab his hand and drag him out the door and then (for reasons unknown to me yet) jerked him down to the ground beside me. Looking around hesitantly, I spotted an arrow firmly rooted in the wall just above our heads.

"Wow, someone wanted to kill us," I joked and cautiously stood up, jerking the arrow free.

I turned around and suddenly jerked back, staring wide-eyed at another quivering arrow centimeters from my face.

"Carlos, stay here. I'm going to go kill someone before they kill me."

He laughed as I grabbed the newest arrow and walked in the direction they had come from. I saw a dark-haired boy at the end of a rather long field holding a loaded bow. He looked like he was about to take another shot, so I started striding towards him before he could. Unfortunately, he didn't notice me before he let it fly and I heard him exclaim something I couldn't quite make out as he realized it was headed towards a living creature before throwing the bow aside and sprinting towards me. I simply twisted to the side and let it fly past me. Realizing I was holding out my arm, I looked down at it to find out why and noticed with a shock that I held arrow in my grasp.

Okay then.

"Oh, gods, you're not hurt are you?" I turned my gaze on the boy who had almost killed me.

"No, I'm fine."

His eyes were the most amazing blue-green. They reminded me of tropical sea water. As soon as I looked into them a song popped into my head.

You're songs remind me of swimming, which I forgot when I started to sink.

"You have a green eye," He says bluntly, then blushes.

"That I do," I reply matter-of-factly.

"You're sure you're okay?" I nod, a little annoyed, but then kinda smirked when he saw the arrow in my hand. "You-you caught that? But that's impossible! How-how did you do that?"

"I don't know. I guess it's just a reflex. Are these yours?" I hold up the other two that were behind my back.

"Oh, yeah, they're mine."

"They almost killed me and my step-brother," I hand them over to him.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that," He flashes me a crooked grin. "Archery isn't a strong point of mine."

"Don't worry, I could tell," I reply dryly and give him a wry grin. "What's your name?"

"Percy and yours?"

"Kyra," I reply and he starts laughing.

"Like Mr. D's daughter, Kyra? The one got electrocuted by Zeus?"

"Do you know of any other Kyra's?" I reply.

He shakes his head with a grin, "What you did took guts, it probably wasn't the best idea though. Gods tend to keep grudges for eternity."

I shrugged and made a face, "He'll get over it as soon as I do."

He smiles again, the corners of his eyes crinkling, "You ever shot before?"

"Arrows? No way. A shotgun's a different story though, so is a pistol. I guess it couldn't be that hard, though."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too," He rolls his eyes, "but I just can't get it. You wanna try?"

"Sure, I'd love to, but I gotta get my step-brother first. I ordered him to remain there while I killed someone."

"You were gonna kill me?" His eyes are serious and I wonder if he takes everything that literally.

"No," I answer with a roll of my eyes, "it's a thing called sarcasm. Heard of it? Unless you want me to kill you."

Relief floods his features, "No, that's okay. I'm sure there's probably a waiting list or something that you'd have to sign first."

I laugh, "Popular guy, huh?"

"You have no idea."

I nod, "I'll be right back."

I bring Carlos back with me and introduce the two. Percy looks slightly confused when he sees him but doesn't say anything. I grab the bow from his hand and an arrow, knocking it like I had seen it done in the movies.

"Like this right?" I ask Percy, pulling it back, ready to fire.

"Yep."

"And I'm aiming for the red on that target right in front of me, right?"

"Yeah, you can aim for the others when you get better, but just focus on that one for now."

I nod to show him I understand and let the arrow fly. It hits the center of the target with a satisfying thud.

"Wow that was amazing!" Percy exclaims in excitement. "If I didn't know better I'd say you were from the Apollo cabin! I've never seen anyone else do that on the first try."

"Really? But it was so easy!" I tease him and he rolls his eyes in return.

"Hey, Chica, try getting the others now," Carlos urges.

I nod and confidently shoot another one, grabbing another arrow before I see if it hits or not and shooting it towards a different target. Both of them meet their intended targets.

"Nice," Carlos nods in approval and I smile.

"I still don't believe it," Percy shakes his head while trying to hide a smile. "I mean, none of your other siblings could do that. I don't get why you can. But anyways, Chiron will be thrilled to see this! You're like an archery prodigy."

"Uh, thanks I guess," I blush some and turn back to the targets, before whipping back towards him. "Wait. I have other siblings?"

"Yeah, two brothers and a sister. Have you not been to camp yet?"

"No," I reply.

"Oh I see," He nods, "well I'll go get the arrows and then I'll show you around, okay?"

"Okay," I agree with an amused smile as he jogs off to gather the arrows.

Soon he's back and motions for us to follow him, "I have to drop these off at the armory first. It's right next to the forge. A little ways away from it is the training arena. The cabins, mess hall are all in one area, and the big house is near the strawberry fields."

"You have strawberry fields?"

He laughs at me, "Of everything I've said that's the only thing you find strange?"

"Well it's the only thing I find delicious," I wink conspiratorially at Carlos and he starts laughing.

"You crazy Chica," He fakes a punch to my arm and I dodge him, grabbing his arm and pulling him closer.

"Don't hit me," I whisper, my smile ever-present.

"Just trying to knock some sense into you," He winks and taps the tip of my nose.

"Hey!" I wrinkle my nose. "You casserole teapot!"

He tilts his head back and starts laughing again, stepping back as I let go of his arm. I turned to find Percy and see that he isn't there. I hadn't noticed we were at the armory already.

"This Percy guy, I think he's the prophecy kid," Carlos commented after his laughter subsided.

"What makes you think that?"

He shrugs, "I guess it's just a feeling. But I'd bet you five dollars I'm right."

I roll my eyes and hit him in the forehead, "Okay, I'll take you up on that. Maybe you can reduce the amount you owe me."

"How much do I owe you, Chica?"

"Fifty dollars," I say with a grin.

"Fifty? I thought it was ten," He replies.

"With interest," I laugh at his face and he tackles me to the ground.

I struggle to get away, but he was stronger than me and we just ended up rolling around, getting grass stains on our clothes.

"Kyra?" I heard Percy call.

"I'm over here Percy," I reply, having been effectively pinned down by a grinning Carlos.

"Oh," He cocks his head when he sees us and I realize what a compromising position this is. "Whatarya doing?"

"Fighting over a bet," I say with a straight face. "He doesn't believe that you can charge interest if you don't get paid by a certain time. And I even warned him that I would do it, too!"

"You did not, you lying casserole!" He argued with a grin.

I gasped in feigned shock, "You think I would lie to you? To Percy? Why, I never! I might just have to forget that fighting agreement that we have!"

His eyes widened and he quickly rolled off me. I sat up and grinned wickedly at him.

"You'll never not fall for that."

"Hey, I gotta protect myself 'cause I know you could mutilate me for the rest of my life," He replies getting up and standing a healthy distance away from me.

I laugh at him and grab the hand that Percy was extending to help me up. A strange current runs between our hands, causing my vision to be spotted with light and I start with surprise, before deciding that this was probably normal for him. Hopefully. But one look at his eyes reveals that he was startled as much as I was and slightly worried about what it might mean.

Odd suspenseful music aside, I let go of his hand and look around.

"Okay so, armory," I point it out, looking to Percy to see if I'm right. "Forge. Training arena?"

"So you were listening," He teases with a grin. "Oh, and Beckendorf."

"Beckenwhat?"

"More like Beckenwho, Chica," Carlos says with a wry smile as I whip around to face this giant being.

"Uh, hi," I say, cursing my five foot three height as I have to look way up to see his face. A smile plays on his dark lips that part to reveal flashing white teeth. He reminds me of Diego; the younger, African-American version. "You're Beckenhoweveryousayit?"

"Beckendorf," He replies, extending his hand which I promptly shake. It's a strong, calloused hand that isn't afraid of work. "And you're Kyra."

A laugh escapes my lips, "It would appear that I'm famous."

"More or less," His smile widens as he turns and calls back to the forge, "Hey Kirsten! There's someone here that you're gonna wanna meet."

The girl that came out wiping her hands on a cloth was very dirty. Her complexion was most likely tan, but right then she looked almost gray because of the layer of soot and various other things covering her skin. She had a very dark smudge across her cheek, her collarbone, both arms and (even though she'd wiped them) her hands where just as dark as Beckendorf's. Her eyes, beautifully dark, lit up with a smile that animated her whole face. Some would say it was a cocky grin because one corner of her mouth lifted higher than the other and dimpled deep into her cheek.

"No way, Kyra? Beckendorf, I should kill you for not callin' me sooner," She punches his arm none too lightly and I smile at the southern twang in her voice. Siblings I'd say, half or step and very close at that. "I can honestly say that you've got the most nerve of any half-blood that ever lived! And I think we're gonna be friends."

"Yeah, she'll be your friend once you get cleaned up," Percy teased mischievously.

"Hey, you can't tell me that the girl who stared down Zeus is afraid of a little dirt and sweat!" She jabbed him in the ribs.

"No, but she's probably afraid of what lives in your hair," He stepped back quickly to hide behind me.

"I'm more afraid of you with a bow," I retorted stepping to the side as Kirsten jumped on him, instantly pinning him to the ground.

"Okay, I give, I give!" He relents easily.

"Surrendering so soon, Percy? And here I took you as a fighter," My mocking voice is filled with laughter and I'm sure my eyes give my joking away.

"That's 'cause he knows that he can't beat me wresslin' and never will," Kirsten put in a satisfied smile on her face.

"Oh, yeah? I bet Kyra could beat you," Even on the ground Percy couldn't help but taunt her.

"Well I guess we'll just have t' find out sometime in the near future, now won't we?" She sends a conspiratorial wink in my direction and I burst out in a grin. I know we're already great friends.

"Tomorrow, I bet she'll have you pinned down faster than you'd have time to react," Percy boasts and I roll my eyes to avoid blushing.

"Oh? You got mad battlin' powers or somethin'?" She stands back up with another grin towards me.

"I wouldn't say that," I shrugged, trying to turn the subject away from me. "Actually I've never wrestled anything but Carlos here before. And in all honesty I do have an advantage over him too."

"Yeah, but isn't that about what you said before you shot those targets?" Percy gets up and dusts himself off.

I blush, "That's a little different."

He shakes his head with a smile, "Not much, actually, but if that's what you want to believe…"

"So this is where you disappeared to."

I twirled around to face Dion with a blush and a small smile. "Yeah, I must've jumped through a portal or something. Wait, do you have those?"

He studies me with amusement, "Not that any half-blood has used before."

"Cool," I smile. "Now let's see, what else can I discover that no one ever knew about?"

I noticed Percy studying us intently, and I really wish I knew what he was thinking.

"They look so much alike. It's like they're almost twins. But they don't act the same. Kyra's a lot nicer than Mr. D. A lot easier to look at too," The words tumble out of his mouth, and then he looked around in surprise and almost horror. "Did I say that out loud?"

I blush and my mind goes spinning for an answer, but comes up with none.

"Hmmm. I see you've met the child of prophecy," Dion says coldly.

I send a glance towards Carlos who shrugs like "told you" and glare at him for a few seconds before returning my gaze to my dad.

"I guess I have. And I think you were completely right. There's no hope," I hid my grin.

"Wait, wait a sec. No hope for what?" Percy asks in concern.

"Us being enemies," My face breaks into a smile and he breathes a sigh of relief. "But honestly, though, are you always this serious?"

He blushed and looked down, "I don't know. Maybe."

"Unfortunately, Kyra, campers here don't have much time to not be serious. A shame really. It keeps them from being eaten, or killed, or worse," Dion answered with an unconcerned wave of his hand.

"Uh, great," I nodded, "I guess."

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll adjust in a few weeks, or maybe months."

"Yeah, well thanks for the encouragement," I put on a cheesy wide grin. "You make it sound like the best place on earth."

"Agree to disagree," He smiles back at me. "On second thought, you'll probably never get used to it and you'll drive Chiron mad because you break so many rules and do so many things that are actually fun."

"Who's going to drive me mad?" The voice came from behind me and I turned to look and wound up staring.

Up and down, down and up, my gaze studied and swept across the man/horse. I guess you would call him a centaur.

"Oh, you're new, aren't you?" He spoke and woke me up from the daze I had sorta slipped into.

Blinking a few times, I replied, "Yes. Very new. "

He laughs companionably, "I can see that. Did you receive a tour of the camp yet?"

If he's wondering how in the world I got here, he hasn't voiced it yet.

"Um, nope. But I think I was about to."

"Chiron, my daughter Kyra came here from Olympus through a secret portal I didn't know existed."

"Oh, you're Kyra," He already looked tired for some reason. "Welcome to Camp Half-blood. I hope your stay is enjoyable."

"Well thank you, I'm sure it will be. Can I call you Chiron? Or do you go by a Mr. or something other that's different?"

He smiles, though not as bright as the first one he gave. "Just Chiron will do."

"It's nice to meet you," I extend my hand and he looks surprised. "I'll try not to be any trouble. And I'm sure whatever you've heard about me is over-exaggerated."

He cocks his head to the side as if to get a better look at me and I offer him a smile. He nods in acceptance, maybe, and then turns to Carlos.

"You're not a half-blood," He says accessing-like.

Carlos thinks about this, inhaling, "No. I don't think I am."

"How did you get in here?"

"Oh, he's with me," I cut in, then exclaimed quickly, "my stepbrother. He's my stepbrother."

"My name is Carlos," He offers his hand also. "I'm a… magician."

Chiron looks startled at this announcement and I silently wonder what that means.

"A magician?" He repeats.

"Yes. Egyptian. We almost got to kill him," Dion remarks.

I roll my eyes at him and he smiles.

"Okay, so I wasn't going to kill him, but Zeus sure tried," He corrects and I smile.

Chiron, well really everyone else, still couldn't figure out what to think of him. Percy noticed the slight awkwardness and directed the attention back to me.

"Chiron, you won't believe it. Kyra's literally an archery prodigy; you've got to see her shoot."

"Hey, she's no prodigy if she's better than you. I think my two year old sister could out shoot you, Percy," Kirsten hit him playfully and he rolled his eyes.

"No, Kirsten, I'm serious," Percy pushes his point. "She said she didn't have any experience and then she goes and shoots targets that some of the Apollo kids can't get a bulls-eye on."

They all study me and I can feel Carlos grin. I smile awkwardly and shrug, not sure how to explain anything at all.

"Hmmm, I'll take a look at that tomorrow. Why don't you take her to her cabin for now, I'm sure she's still not completely recovered from her… injury," Chiron suggests and I have to admit, I do feel kinda exhausted.

"Oh, yeah, of course I forgot. I'll take her there right away," Percy offered quickly. "But Chiron, I still need to talk to you about something else. Don't let me forget."

His eyes meet mine and I could tell he wasn't done talking about me.

Great.

Chiron nodded in acknowledgement and Percy took off, gesturing for me to follow him. I did the same for Carlos and we arrived at a cabin that had vines that I somehow knew where grape around the doorway and climbing around the walls. It was a pretty little house looking thing that had almost an Italian feel to it. I felt immediately comfortable there.

"Welcome to Cabin Twelve," Percy smiles and does a little bow.

"This is nice," I reply with a smile of my own.

"It's supposed to make you feel at home," He says. "My cabins a bit further down. It's number three. But I don't have any sisters or anything. My half-brother lives under sea most of the time. Your brothers are probably in the fields. I don't know about your sister, possibly the big house caring for injured campers and stuff. She's got a way of making people relax."

I nod and try to hide a smile. I don't think he realized it but he was just talking to say something, anything.

He noticed my expression and blushes. "And I don't know why I'm telling you all this. Do you?"

I shake my head with a small smile, "You're just trying to make me feel more comfortable."

"Yes," He immediately catches that idea and points a finger at me, "yes, that's exactly it."

I laugh and look around once again noting the four beds lining the walls.

"They must've known I was coming," I comment, still smiling before sitting down on the vacant and noticeably unused bed. "Even the bed's perfect."

Percy smiles again, "Yeah, well, I'm gonna go now. I need to talk to Chiron before he gets drug into something else."

I nod and he starts to leave but I stop him easily by saying his name, "Percy?" I almost laugh at how fast he spins around. "If you find out anything about me, you'll let me know right?"

He thinks about this, "Yeah. Of course, I'll make sure you know."

"Thank you," I smile softly and lean over, curling up on the bed.

"Oh, um, Carlos, right?" He must've forgotten that Carlos was still there. "I don't know where you'll be staying. I'll talk to Chiron about it."

I wave my hand tiredly, without bothering to open my eyes, "It's okay. He can stay with me. We'll share a bed. It's not like we've never slept together before."

A moment of silence comes and I realize that didn't sound quite right.

I sigh, "Not like that. Just sleeping."

Percy laughs nervously, "Yeah. I knew that. Well, bye."

I hear the door shut and Carlos climbs over me to wrap his arm securely around me. It was the only blanket I'd ever needed.

Things were really strange. They were downright weird! Everything I had ever known was altered in some way or other and it felt like I was losing what little control I had over my life. Keeping an open mind was hard. Even Carlos had changed. Not that being a magician made me trust him less, no, he was still Carlos, still my brother, still there for me. And as long as he was, I'd be willing to believe that we actually lived on Mercury and Earth was uninhabitable.

And she LIVES! :) and gets heterochromia iridis or heterochromia iridum whichever floats your goat... and yes, I did just say goat hehe... and is Graced... Have any of you read the book Graceling? It's really good... And yes I did mean to change the prophetic age for Percy to 18 because it makes him older than her and that's a good thing. Imma tell you right now because a few of you might be freaking out because it sounds like Kyra's a Mary Sue (which she might be but it's not purposeful) Percy and Kyra do not get together. He is interested in her, but it's more from curiosity. They've never had anything like her. Yeeaah, I think I've talked enough sooo... I'll shut up.