A/N: I don't own Greek mythology or any characters from Percy Jackson and the Olympians that might show up. All of the main characters are OC's.
When Daman had closed his eyes last night, he'd been hoping for a dreamless sleep, not the dreams that seemingly told showed him the past, present, or future. He'd thought he'd had enough of those already (and from what he's heard from his friends, they'd had enough too). But, luck just never seemed to be with him. Recently orphaned during the second Titan War (oh sorry, the really-huge-storm-that-destroyed-half-the-freaking-country), he'd realised that that lightning bolt that had destroyed the building wasn't just some freak accident- it had been Zeus' master bolt. Now it was just some cruel, sick joke. The day after Kathy and Jenna had arrived (the others, it was discovered, weren't demi-gods), he'd woken up with a paper next to his bed telling him his class schedule and that his dad was Hades. The freaking god of death was his dad, and his mom was dead.
Anyway, he'd opened his eyes to find himself standing in a field with different structures scattered all over. Not SASS, but that stupid camp Rhea had been telling them about: Camp Half-blood, the place where their siblings reside. But this time, instead of tension hanging thick in the air like all the other times, mostly everyone was acting normal. Must be the present, he mused to himself, and then spotted one of those goat-men he'd see every so often. Satyrs, Rhea had called them, the ones who worked with their siblings. It was just a non-consequential satyr, not one that would call any attention, but Daman focused on him. He ran into the forest, towards where the council of Cloven Elders had been, as Rhea had called it, showing them the map. When the satyr arrived there, panting, he started talking to a satyr who had already been there, presumably the one he had wanted to see, as they were the only two there.
"Lord Grover, a massive amount of demi-god scent has been discovered in a very isolated, rural place near the village/town of Layaway." The first satyr gasped out. So they found us, Daman thought to second satyr straightened, and Daman's eyes flashed to him, knowing he was important. 'Lord Grover' the satyr had caucasian skin, a tall and lanky appearance and the signature goat legs with horns sticking out of his hair. His eyes were dark brown, hair a curly light-brown, and a stubble on his chin.
"How many times have I told you guys," Grover muttered, almost to himself, "drop the 'lord' part. It makes me jump." Then, to the reporting satyr, "Is it really so massive some searchers don't want to go?" The satyr hesitated, almost like he was embarrassed of the answer he had to give.
"Yes," he admitted, "the reports say that the scent is stronger even than a child of the big three. So much stronger." The satyr involuntarily shuddered, and Grover's expression became serious.
"I understand. I'll go myself." Ignoring the sounds of protest coming from the other satyr, he continued, "Percy and Annabeth should be back any minute now, but there's no time to waste. I'll leave immediately. Inform them of the situation and ask them if they can come back me up. I'll scout out the field." The first satyr looked miserable that Grover was risking himself, but trotted obediently to await the two demigods that Daman had already dreamed about. This wasn't good. Those two were unstoppable, and if they came to SASS, they might not even give him and his fellow students the chance to tell the truth. The dream began to fade. "There goes my vacation." Grover muttered, shouldering a bag, and the dream went black.
Daman woke with a start, covered in cold sweat, and, looking around to gauge his surroundings, and saw something that made his eyes go wide and pull up the covers. An aurae, an elvish girl with a white silk dress, was standing in the doorway, letting a harsh light enter his room. She seemed embarrassed at having woken him up.
"Oh- um- I apologize master Daman!" She exclaimed looking down, blushing to the roots of her soft brown hair. "I was told to inform you that 'just because it's not a class day, does not mean you can sleep until noon'." She explained, sounding strained. He sighed.
"It's okay, you just surprised me is all. You can tell Rhea I'll be out in a sec." She nodded, and flew out the door, closing it on the way out. He flopped back on the bed, and tried to remember his dream. A satyr... Layaway... back-up... his concentration wavered and slipped, and he lost the train of thought. Argh! Never mind! he thought angrily to himself, getting dressed, and doing his hygiene routine. He strode out of his 'room', although it was basically the size of an apartment and it wasn't connected to anything other than nature. He has his own house, complete with a single room the size of it's own apartment. Go figure.
Idly, as he walked into the blinding noon light, he wondered if all his friends' houses had a lay-out like that. He glanced back, seeing the door to his room nestled into the side of the mountain, concealed. Even when he got the feeling it was because he was the son of Hades, he liked that his room/house was underground, built into a medium-sized hill.
He turned his head forward, and saw that no one was around; not even Conrad, who was always at the sword arena. Then he remembered: No classes, Visitation day. He groaned, but started walking steadily towards the front gate where he knew everyone was. How stupid, him and visitation day. His mom was dead, everyone at the foster agency that was 'responsible' for him was glad he was gone, and his father was in the realm of the dead, ruling over his minions and wishing Daman didn't exist.
He passed through the gate to see almost everyone who still remained at camp with their mortal relatives. Vaguely, somewhere he didn't pay attention to in his mind, it acknowledged this as the reason the satyrs had finally sensed the demi-gods. The more dominant part of his mind registered that it was boiling out here! Sure, SASS had magical qualities and they didn't have to deal with the weather outside, but yeesh! It took him a minute to adapt to the immediate heat change, but once he did, he noted that Shawn, Jasper, and that one girl Jenna weren't out. Before he had the chance to wonder why, he heard a voice.
"Hey, Daman! Over here!" Diablo was waving over-enthusiastically to Daman, and, rolling his eyes, Daman complied.
"What's up?" he asked, looking past Diablo to see four more people. Wait a minute. The adults, Diablo's mom and stepfather he guessed, were talking to two other adults not that far away, and they were standing near... Carter?
"I know!" Diablo said, seeing Daman's preoccupation. "When Carter and I came out, we found our parents already, like, making friends with each other! It's like they think the two of us are friends or something!" There was sarcasm dripping from his tone, and Daman had the urge to laugh. Ever since they'd gotten there, those two had been messing with each other, but it was obvious they got along really well.
"Big brother!" Two voices shouted in sync, and a force toppled Diablo. He started laughing, and Daman couldn't stop his chuckle. Two kids, a boy and a girl, were hugging Diablo so hard he was struggling to get up.
"Hey guys." Diablo wheezed out. "Miss me? It's only been a month since last visitation day." They let go, but they seemed a bit mad.
"Last visitation day was soooooo long ago, though!" The boy shouted.
"31 days, 2 hours, and 31 minutes since we last saw big brother." The younger girl stated solemnly.
"Geez Kisa, you make it sound like the end of the world!" Diablo chuckled, getting up. "Hey guys, I got someone I want to introduce you to." He gestured toward Daman, who felt a bit uncomfortable when the two kids turned their gazes to him. "This is Daman. Daman, this is Tobi and Kisa." They smiled him, and he grinned back, relieved.
"Hi!" They chorused. He raised his hand in greeting, when he saw a small figure approach Diablo from behind. Diablo noticed when the figure started tugging his sleeve.
"Hey!" He greeted, crouching down. "Where'd you come from?" The little girl looked at him bashfully.
"I'm Riley," The little girl enlightened him, blinking her blue eyes, "are you big brother's friend, Diablo?" Diablo looked amazed, so Daman walked up to her, and crouched down, too.
"He probably is." Daman answered her question. She looked at him, brushing her blonde hair back.
"You're Daman, another of big brother's friends." She informed. He grinned and nodded.
"So, Riley. Who is your big brother?" Before she could answer, they heard an exasperated shout from behind her.
"Riley!" Carter walked towards them, leaving Kayla and another girl arguing behind him. "Just because I told you about them, doesn't mean you should go interrupting their conversations!" He looked at Daman and Diablo, "Sorry about that."
"Dude, it's no problem!" Diablo exclaimed, straightening up. "Why didn't you tell us you had such a cute little sister?" Carter rolled his eyes and spotted Tobi and Kisa, who were sulking.
"You're over here, fawning over my little sister, when you're ignoring both of your siblings!" Carter went over to them. "I don't know how you dealt with him all your lives. I've barely stood him for a month and a half!" Daman was feeling uncomfortable: what family did he have to introduce to his friends? Quickly and silently, before anyone could stop him, he retreated back to SASS.
"Daman! Hey, wait!" Diablo called after him. Daman ignored him, walking faster. "Aww man!" he heard Diablo whine to who he assumed was Carter, "Shawn never came out, and Willow's over there! Does this mean I'm stuck with you?" Daman faintly heard Carter's reply: "Idiot," before he re-entered the gates to his 'school'. They weren't allowed to bring the families inside, so he knew he'd be free to do what he wanted.
So, Shawn had never come out? Either that, or Diablo just had gotten out after him, but Daman hadn't seen him anywhere. In the distance, he heard shouting from outside the boundary, and he recognized Kathy's voice in the mix. Huh. He'd never heard her shout before. He also noticed Jasper, who hadn't been outside earlier, by the lake. His family must've already left. Well, not much to do, so Daman headed towards the library. If Shawn wasn't outside, he'd be in the library, and if he was outside... Daman could just pass the time by reading. But, apparently his demigod powers had other plans for him.
The second he stepped in the thin shadow of the tree next to the large building, everything went pitch-black. Not this again! he thought to himself, annoyed. Shadow traveling, as Rhea called it, was a way to travel quickly that only creatures or children of the underworld could use. Almost as soon as it started: the cold shivers, the flying sensation, the creepy voices, it stopped, throwing him into a room that was surprisingly similar, and astonishingly different, to his own.
His own room was modeled for darkness: no windows, dark painted walls and furniture, even the lamp shades were darkly tinted. This room was extremely different. Yes, it, like his own, was the size of it's own apartment, but it was designed for light. Not golden light, but the soft blue of the sky; natural light. The northern wall was made completely of glass, as was the roof. On either end of the glass wall were drapes, in case the inhabitant wanted the glass covered. There was also a cover for the roof, too, but it was folded in a corner of the room. It had a soft, white carpet, and the furniture was all light colors: blue, pink, orange, soft red, and even some sharp yellow in the mix. Even though it didn't seem like it should match, it somehow did, like every color fit exactly in the color scheme.
Also, for some unfathomable reason, it was obvious this room belonged to a girl. And this girl was either a neat freak, or just very good at staying tidy. Just as he reached this conclusion, he heard a voice from behind him.
"What the f-ing flip?" A girl's voice gasped, and he swung around to look at her. She was small, about Shawn's height, with wavy black hair that reached to her waist. She had creamy skin, and the eyes that were fixed on him were ultramarine with flecks of red, accentuated by the long streak of red in her hair. "D-Daman?" She stammered. He snapped out of it.
"I'm sorry!" he answered, seeing the similarity. This girl must be Shawn's sister; they look so much alike! "I don't know how I got here-" a lie, but it was needed "but I'll leave imme-"
"Not necessary," The girl interrupted, sighing. "You don't have to leave, I was just surprised is all. We're not supposed to even be able to see each other's cabins, much less enter them." He stared at her, surprised. How did she know that? Did Shawn tell her everything? Come to think of it, she wasn't supposed to be in here!
"U-um," he faltered. How to phrase this? "How are you here? We're not supposed to let relatives in here." She stared at him blankly.
"Daman," she said slowly, "who do you think I am?"
Confused, he replied, "Well you look like Shawn's sister. Isn't that who you are?" She surprised him by laughing: a loud, infectious laugh that seemed oddly familiar. He found himself grinning, although he didn't understand why.
"I see," she snickered, composing herself. "Okay. Let's start from the beginning. When I got here, the only one who'd already arrived was Jasper. He knows who I am, and I asked him to keep it a secret, since I didn't want anyone to treat me any differently because of who my current foster parents are. And of course, as their charity case, my face is quite well-known, so I didn't want people knowing me by sight either. I ended up always wearing a hat. Everyday the first couple days I'd ask if an aurae would help me pin my hair up so I could put a hat over it, and by the time another camper came I had a daily routine with Sam, who loves helping people out.
"The third person to arrive at camp was Conrad, so naturally he challenged both Jasper and I to duels. He was at a standoff with Jasper when it started to sprinkle, and Conrad didn't stand a chance, seeing as Jasper's the son of Poseidon. Jasper didn't accept the rematch Conrad asked for, and as the slight drizzle came to a stop, that idiotic son of Ares demanded an immediate match with me. I declined, and told him I'd fight him tomorrow when it was no longer wet. I don't like storms, you see. He called me a coward, a chicken, a wimp, a girl (he didn't know for sure, just another insult), but I didn't budge.
"So the next morning, the second he saw me, he insisted that the match begin. I have training in a lot of subjects from a lot of free time, including fencing and hand to hand combat, so the battle was over quickly. I never took off my hat, so he basically decided that, since I wiped the floor with him, even without a weapon, I had to be a guy, as it would be completely too embarrassing to have been beaten by a girl. And so it was decided that anyone who'd come to camp would be introduced to Shawn No Last Name, the boy who's fast and never takes his hat off." She finished, looking intently at Daman. He kind of understood, but... no way...
"You- I- I don't understand..." he tried to explain, and the girl sighed, walking over to a side table next to the couch. On top of it was a blue hat- Shawn's blue hat. She placed it on her head, and turned around.
"I don't believe we were properly introduced." Shawn said, walking back towards him and holding out a hand. "My name is Shawntel Black, daughter of the deceased Christina Black and Zeus, god of the sky. It's nice to meet you Daman, and please just call me Shawn."
A/N: So, bet none of you saw that coming. The next chapter will also follow Daman. I'd originally intended to have them in the same chapter, but you guys probably don't like the extremely long chapters. Review and/or vote on my poll and I'll probably update faster!
P.S. Thank you to BreadKing, for your reviews. I especially liked the second one. It's nice to know someone likes my story that much. I'll be sure to finish the next chapter quickly, so look for it tomorrow or the next day. :)