Hey, I finally have most of the plot all figured out... as in I've decided what the quest will be. Yay!

Also, thanks to 3AllTimeLowLover3 for providing a mean girl, though I did change her name because I have a character named Sasha already.

Braxton: Shock From the Big House

By the time lunch came around, everyone at camp was talking about Dawn and Hermione. I think the Stolls were ready to cry because she was almost ready to leave. I was fine with her about to leave. She didn't exactly make me comfortable.

However, it seemed that everyone disagreed with me. Cabin Eleven worshipped her. The boys from Cabin Seven all had managed to develop a crush on her. And even those from Cabin Five wanted to learn and train with her because she was so experienced in battle.

"She seems nice enough," Reis said. "It would be good to have someone that we can actually battle with that knows what she's doing. Someone without the advantage of being half horse or a child of Ares."

"When was the last time you were actually in a battle with anyone aside a practice dummy?" I inquired of my sister, turning to look at her.

"The battle in Manhattan," Reis didn't miss a beat. "But, still, I'm a rare case of not wanting to go out and battle anymore. Most demigods are eager and ready to go on a quest." I stared at her. "You yourself could learn a ton from someone with her experience."

"Don't you think it's a little weird to have someone her age here?" I asked, seeing as she had brought up a valid argument.

"That's right, you weren't here for Quintus," Reis mumbled, more to herself more than to me.

"Who?"

"He was a swordsman and helped train here for a while," Reis said. "That was about three years ago now. I was just a year-rounder when he came."

"And what happened to him?" I asked.

"Um... long story," Reis said.

"Anyway, I noticed that things aren't as organized as they are in the summer," I said.

"Yeah, the activities are more free time, so long as we keep up practice on our own," Reis said. "But there are usually a lot less people here, so I think Chiron was going to change that eventually. Anyway, want to work on Archery today?"

"No!"

"A little practice with your sword? I saw that you had used it some yesterday."

"Not really."

"You know that you have to do something, right?" Reis said.

"Isn't Greek lessons enough for a day?" I asked. "And chores? I noticed that we're up for working in the stables some."

"Which would be a perfect opportunity to take a pegasus for a ride," Reis said. She really wanted me to be active at camp. I'm not sure why. I guess it was her odd way of caring for her family.

I, however, was doing my best to block out Reis's dribbling when Chiron approached the Hermes table. He said something to Hermione, which I couldn't hear, and then the two of them walked out. Dawn looked pretty sad to see her mom walking out. I wanted to know what was going. "I'll see you later," I said to Reis, standing up and taking one last gulp of my soda. And then I walked out. Chiron and Hermione weren't too far off, but far enough off that they wouldn't notice me.

I called some power and sent it at a few birds in some bushes. They went crazy for a moment, and Hermione and Chiron turned toward them, away from from me. I quickly dashed behind a bush they were right next to. By the time they turned back one another, I could hear them quite easily.

"You know, you don't have to leave the camp," Chiron said. "I think it would break Dawn's heart if you did leave."

"Chiron, I'm too old to be a camper now," Hermione said. "There's nothing else for me to learn here."

"I didn't mean for you to stay as a camper," Chiron said. "But as a coach. As it is, you are one of the most talented demigods in the last few hundred years with a sword. As well, you have something that even I don't have. You understand the world in its current state."

"You're offering me a job?" Hermione sounded half shocked.

"Yes," Chiron said. "That is exactly what I'm offering you, Hermione. We could use someone with your experience as a teacher."

Hermione seemed to be considering it.

"You'd, of course, would be paid for your time," Chiron said. "Room and board would be provided." He hadn't quite gotten her yet. "And you'd be with Dawn." That got her.

She sighed and nodded. "I'm not sleeping in the Hermes cabin," she said.

"Certainly not," Chiron said. "There are rooms in the Big House. I'll have the Stolls fix whichever one you want up."

Hermione nodded. Chiron began toward the Dining Pavilion, but she got his attention. "Chiron," she said. He stopped and turned to her. "Thank you."

He nodded. "You are welcome," he said, before trotting off.

I turned to go back to my cabin, only to be shocked to see Mercy was crouched next to me. I half jumped out of my skin. She hadn't made a sound.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked. She, of course, was thrilled. Her idol would be staying at camp and would be teaching.

"When did you get there?" I asked.

"I was right behind you the whole time," she said. "You know, you really suck at the whole sneaking thing. If it hadn't been for those birds..."

"You think I didn't have something to do with the birds?" I hissed.

"Oh." She turned to see Hermione was off in the distance a bit. Mercy stood and did a little happy dance. I am not going to lie. She may be slightly insane, and I'm probably paranoid around her because I've seen her pull some crazy stunts, but she was attractive. When she's standing still, it's difficult to see, but she was quite petite and her energy gives off some positive vibes. I sometimes wonder if maybe she's actually some mixture of Hermes, Aphrodite, and Hebe in reality.

Once lunch was officially over, Chiron blew the Conch horn. Everyone went in the direction of the sound. He was in the amphitheater. I really didn't want to go, because I knew exactly what this would be about.

"Hello, Braxton," Mary-Ann said, taking a seat next to me. Dawn was behind her, looking worried and annoyed. "Are we allowed to sit here, or do we have assigned seating?"

"No, you can sit wherever you want," I told them. "Usually, we end up grouping ourselves with our cabins, but there are no seating rules for these meetings."

"Good," Mary-Ann said, blowing a few red curls out of her face. Dawn was still standing, and looking around.

"Do you think she would have actually left without telling me?" Dawn asked, not looking down, or even aiming her question to anyone. I think it was supposed to be rhetorical.

"Hey, girls," Mercy said slipping into a seat next to Mary-Ann, much to Dawn's sudden annoyance. "You." She glared at me for a moment.

"Do you need something, Mercy, or are you here just to annoy me?" I asked.

"Have you told them the news yet?" Mercy asked. She was beaming again.

"The news?" Mary-Ann asked. "What news?"

"I'm pretty sure Chiron is about to announce it," I said. I glanced up at Dawn. "You might want to sit down."

"But, my mother..." Dawn said. She was twisting some of her glossy brown hair in her fingers. However, seeing that pretty much everyone else had sat down, she took my advice, sitting behind Mary-Ann as Mercy had taken her desired seat.

"May I have everyone's attention," Chiron called out, once the din had begun to go down. He waited until everyone stopped talking, and the last stragglers took seats. "As I'm sure everyone knows by now, we have a visitor at camp right now. Hermione Westbrook." All of Hermes's kids began to whoop and cheer. Once that dimmed again, Chiron continued. "She will no longer be a visitor," a lot of moans were heard from this, and Dawn's face visibly dropped. "From now on, Miss Westbrook will be a camp instructor."

"What? Really?" one of the Stoll brothers, I'm not sure which, cried out and jumped up.

"What will she be instructing?" the other asked.

"She will be an instructor in battle abilities," Chiron said. "As she is one of the most talented demigods in battle in years, she will help each of you find and improve your best weapons. As well, she will bring in real world experience. She will take out small teams on real monster hunts."

Pretty much everyone was cheering by now. Mercy was doing her happy dance thing again, and now Dawn was joining her. The two were holding hands and jumping around. Next to me, Mary-Ann sighed, and twisted her mouth up a bit. Apparently I wasn't alone in not being a huge fan of the famous con-woman.

"I can't believe it!" Dawn cried, throwing her arms around an unsuspecting Mary-Ann suddenly. "My mom's staying! Isn't it amazing?"

"It's fabulous," Mary-Ann said, though her voice betrayed her words. Dawn didn't seem to notice.

"I wonder where she is!" she said suddenly, looking around again.

"She went to pack up her stuff and bring it to the Big House," Mercy explained to Dawn.

"How do you know this?" Mary-Ann asked. i would have used an accusatory tone, but I didn't have any right to speak at the moment.

"Because Brax and I spied on her and Chiron," Mercy said in a light happy tone.

"It makes you proud to spy on people," I accused. "Doesn't it?"

"You knew!" Dawn gasped, staring at me with wide blue eyes. "And you didn't mention it to me?"

"It's not like I've known for a long time," I defended myself. "Anyway, Chiron's trying to get attention again."

He stomped his hooves, coughed, but most of the campers were still too excited to pay attention. He finally brought up the conch horn and blew it. That got the attention of everyone.

"Over the next few days, each of you will become organized into groups of five," Chiron announced. "You will go on one day efforts to learn in the field with Miss Westbrook. These are not quests. Groups can be made of both demigods and satyrs. As it is still during the school year, I would like everyone here to go on their field day before the summer begins, starting with those with little to no quest experience."

"I guess that excludes Percy, Annabeth, and Grover," Mercy said. Suddenly, she brightened up a lot. "How about we go as a group!"

"We're only four," Mary-Ann said. I knew that Mercy hadn't meant to include me.

"I can be a fifth," Troy said, joining us.

Chiron looked over at us. "I believe we have our first group of five," he said. "Mercy daughter of Hermes, Mary-Ann daughter of Dionysus, Braxton son of Eris, Dawn daughter of Hermione, and Troy the Satyr. You five will accompany Hermione tomorrow."

I groaned. Of course Chiron would have over-heard us.

I leaned back, eyes closed, as the girls and Troy began gushing in excitement. Somehow, I was hoping I would fall asleep or something. The last thing I wanted to do was go on a mini-quest and get shown up by Dawn and Mercy, as they would both no doubt be better with any weapon than I would be. I already decided that I'd bring two daggers I own rather than my sword that I could barely lift.

And then I heard the the heavy panting, as everyone had quieted down. I opened my eyes and turned to where everyone was looking at Hermione, who had just entered the amphitheater.

"Mom..." Dawn said slowly.

"Hermione, what's the matter?" Chiron asked, leaping from the stage and approaching the demigod woman.

"I've just been to the Big House," she said. "It's Ariadne. She's sick."

This earned a collective gasp, myself included. Goddesses didn't get sick. Not really. Unless it was some strong poison. Chiron's own eyes were wide, but he turned to where Dionysus sitting. "Eyes closed!" Chiron yelled.

"Huh?" Mary-Ann questioned. Not trusting her to close her eyes quickly enough, I clamped both my hands over her eyes, closed my own eyes, and turned away from where Dionysus was for good measure. Even so, I felt the heat from him taking his true form for a moment. After a few moments, Mary-Ann pulling at my hands, I opened my eyes. Dionysus was gone.

"Check to make sure no one was hurt," Chiron said to Hermione, before galloping off toward the Big House.

"What was that about?" Mary-Ann asked. "Is Ariadne going to be okay?" She tried standing up, but I held her down. I stood up myself, looking down at her.

"Stay out of this for a bit," I said. "This is a matter of the gods."

"Well, why did you clamp your hands over my eyes?" Mary-Ann asked.

"Mr. D took his true godly form," Mercy explained. "The sight alone would kill us."

Mary-Ann looked truly lost. Hermione was going through the crowd, checking that everyone had been able to close their eyes on time. The fact that no one was screaming was a good sign.

But then I heard one girl a few rows behind us. She was a brunette daughter of Aphrodite, sitting with a few of her half sisters. Admittedly, Rhonda is easily the prettiest girl her age, but also one of the cruelest.

"I bet it was Mr. D's daughter that poisoned the goddess," she said to her sisters. They all giggled. Within a few hours, I knew that they would have spread the gossip to the whole camp.