Christina:
I guess you could imagine how I felt when I woke up in the morning. Imagine you have just been having the time of your life and then the next moment later, someone tells you horrible news and you go to bed with it hanging over your head. Then when you wake up, you wish you had done something to prevent it or you wish you could forget about it. You wouldn't even come close to what I was feeling. And there was only one word to explain it. Hatred…and anger. Ok I lied. Actually two words.
Anyways, I hated the fact that I had a brother. I was angry twice as much with Poseidon for sending me a brother. I hated the fact that I had to train with him. I hated the other fact that I might have to explain a whole bunch of other things. That he would be on my team sometimes in Capture the Flag. That we would eat at the same table sometimes. That we will share the same cabin…sometimes. What I hated the most was that he had liked me! GROSS! And I hated that I even had to put up with him.
I looked at Logan who was still crashed out on the bottom bunk. I watched his side rise and fall. I looked at his face and saw smaller details. Like that small scar on his cheek bone. You could see it only if you looked real close. I stared at him. I stared. And stared. I stared some more. I…why was I even looking at him! I looked at my watch silver watch that I always kept with me and realized that I had woken up later than usual. Normal time: 7:00 or 7:15. Current time: 7:45. Time to get him up.
I walked over to the side of the room and threw open the curtains, letting the warm sunlight come flooding in. I walked back over hoping somewhat that the sunlight would've woken him up immediately. No such luck. I sighed. I decided to get dressed quickly before anything else happened. I was also hoping the sunlight that was bathing his face for after I had thrown open the curtains, now would wake him up. After I was finish getting dress, he was still snoring away.
"All right Sleeping Beauty. Get the Hades outta bed. Wake up!" I said, shaking Logan hard on the shoulder.
"AHHHHH!" he screamed and fell out of bed hitting the ground hard. I waited. Few seconds later. Annnnnd…it never came. The only sound was him snoring half awake and half asleep. Another few seconds later….."OWWWWW!" he yelled and sat bolt upright on the floor.
"Late reaction," I told him chuckling.
He rubbed his head and let his head fall back. Instead of it bumping on the mattress, he hit his head on the bed rail (not the type to keep you from falling out of bed. The one that is on the side to keep the mattress from sliding off).
"HOLY CRAP! OWWWWW!" he yelled.
"FAIL!" I yelled back. He sat up again and rubbed his head and his back. I guess he had hit his head and back when he fallen out of bed. As he sat on the floor rubbing his now-gonna-be-sore parts I said, "I guess this is your casual way of getting up, isn't it? I'll have to get use to it if you're going to do it everyday."
"It's not funny! That freaking hurt!"
"Your fault, your problem."
"Shut up!" he growled.
"Make me."
"I will."
"Like to see you try."
He was silent.
"That's what I thought."
"Oh, shut up now Christina. I hit my head twice and my back once. Really? You've got to be this mean and you just had to wake me up," he said wincing as he tried to get up.
"Deal with the pain. You'll experience worse eventually. And yes I had to wake you up. Breakfast is at 8:00 so if you want breakfast, get up, shut up, and lets go."
"Ok. Fine. Let me get dressed first because I am not going out their in gym shorts and a Camp Half-Blood workout shirt! But I'm telling you. If you were feeling what I am feeling, you'd be complaining too."
"Logan. I have experienced pain worse than you probably have. Just shut up like I said and quit complaining!" He grumbled something about his back and began to get dressed into a spare pair of shorts and a fresh orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt.
When he was done, he followed my reluctantly, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Off to our right, campers with their cabins were coming out and joining other campers. Off to our left, some campers were picking their way to the Mess Hall. We followed the other cabins and I realized some of them were stealing glances at us of uncertainty. I went up to one kid and talked to him for a bit and some of the kids that had been giving me glances and looks, stopped. Logan tried to talk with one kid and he said, "I don't want to know you. You'll probably end up drowning me or something." Logan argued with him and said, "What about Christina? She could drown you with her water powers."
"I trust Christina with my life," he said. "You'll probably do something crazy right now because you can't control yourself unlike Christina."
"Oh sure. Be that way. I barely even know you much less my powers!"
"Yeah right," the kid disputed. "Like last night?" and stormed away.
"He's got a point you know," I told Logan.
"Not you too!" Logan shot back.
"Be moody. I think its cause you hit your head. Bye."
I walked ahead until I had reached the Mess Hall. I was about to head for the Athena cabin when I caught Chiron's eye. He shook his head, pointed at me, at Logan, and pointed at the Poseidon table thrusting his two finger downward, making the clear sign to sit down. I looked at him disappointingly and glared. Logan came over and sat down. I looked at Chiron. He made the sit down sign and I didn't move. He crossed his arms, tapping his fingers on one of his forearms. Then he glared at me, giving me the perfect ten and made the sign again. I didn't move. He raised his eyebrows and began to trot over. He made a motion of picking me up and dumping me in the seat. I stayed where I was. He sighed and began to trot faster. He got within 10 feet of me and I sat down quickly, trying to out glare or well, glare him down.
He stayed where he was and I gave him the perfect 20 glare (I don't think there such thing as that but I don't care). He nodded and made another motion. The I-got-my-eyes-on-you motion. Rolling my eyes, I loaded my plate and took it over to the fire to scrape in as an offering and saying Athena and Poseidon. Logan followed my lead a few seconds later but saying Poseidon of course.
I scarfed my breakfast down and headed to find Alethia. I found that she had finished breakfast just as quick and was now heading towards the beach. I caught up to her and we began to talk. She asked if I liked my new brother but in a timid way, knowing I was in a bad mood since she knew me so well to read my expressions. I said I guess I did but she knew I was lying and told me to tell the truth and I confessed.
"Not really. I didn't want a brother. I mean, yeah its all cool and everything that I have brothers and sisters from the Athena cabin but I know Logan from school and I can't stand the thought that he was claimed openly by Poseidon and now he is my brother. Its really, REALLY disturbing," I answered.
"Mmmm. Well, I'm sure you'll get use to it. I know it may be hard because you don't feel any support from your mom and dad. Not to mention, I can agree with you. I wouldn't be able to stand it if my dad just randomly claimed a boy or a girl and they became my brother or sister. No heads up. No dream or 'hey, you have a brother or a sister. So be prepared,' type of thing."
"That's exactly what I was thinking," I said as we watched the waves roll in on the beach. Moments later, our silence was broken by the sound of the conch horn.
"We better go. We won't be having the same activities as you today," she said. I nodded in agreement as she hugged me like I was her sister.
"I hope you don't let your brother situation bother you too much either," she added in my ear before leaving with a goodbye wave.
"I'll try not to let it," I muttered, even after she left. Little did I know that that was the last time I was going to see her at camp because I wasn't going to see her for awhile.
By the time lunch had rolled around, I was fuming with Logan. Him and his questions while we were fighting. Like: Where did I learn to fight better than anyone at this camp? I answered, "Nowhere in particular. It just comes naturally I guess." What kind of monsters have I faced? I named a few. Have I ever gone a quest before? That one I didn't answer but the truth was, I had. Logan had more questions and they were all disturbing. Some of them were: How old was I when I ran away with Lillian? He seemed kind of disturbed also when he asked that question and I had a suspicion that he knew something. How long have I been at camp? Have I ever visited the Underworld? I looked at him like he was an idiot.
"Oh, never mind." was his answer. Have Athena or Poseidon ever come close to blasting me to a million pieces? That one I tried not to strangle him. Why don't I remember anything before the one year I had been living with Lillian and since I don't, does that mean I don't know where I was born? I fought the urge to stab him. And the last one that he asked was a very disturbing question. If I do go to Olympus again, will my parents and I fight twice as much and will the fight be worse since he would be there? I told him if he asked that question again I would knock him out hard. That pretty much ended the so-called conversation. As we were eating at the Poseidon table, Logan asked me about something that got my attention.
"Are demigod dreams regular like a mortals or do they have something to do with other stuff and are they important?"
"Demigod dreams are important. They help us glance something at our friend's or our past, future, present or even what are enemies are doing. And depending on how bad a situation is if the demigod is in one, the more vivid the dreams are and the more scarier," I said. "Why?"
"Oh. Well because I had a dream that I don't understand why it was shown to me," he said nervously.
"What was it?" I questioned. He looked at me worriedly and answered, "I hope you don't get mad."
"I'll try not to."
"Well, I had the dream Monday night. I dreamed about you and Lillian in a forest and you guys looked liked little kids."
"I knew you knew something that I hadn't told you," I said.
"What?" Logan replied surprisingly.
"Yeah, I knew you did. Something that I hadn't even mentioned to you and was going to at some point. Anyways, carry on."
"Ok. So, you guys looked liked you had gotten out of bed and were running away from something. Something huge. You told Lillian to run faster and then the thing that was chasing you appeared in front of you and tried to grab you but you and Lillian separated by diving out of the way. You both taunted it and then you guys sensed something but you for some reason sensed it quicker and the thing grabbed Lillian by the neck. She kicked and hit it and you yelled at it to put her down." Logan took a deep breath and continued, trying hard not to crack up.
"Your exact words were, 'Put her down you stupid oaf!' Then it was about to attack you and you closed your eyes, and began murmuring something like you were focusing and then out of nowhere, something like a huge sword-like bolt thingy hit the monster from the sky. And then whatever was pursuing you disappeared into sand dropping your sister. Then you guys just ventured on deeper into the forest. I'm sorry I kept it from you but I didn't want to tell you because it seemed kind of disturbing," he finished. I closed my eyes, remembering that horrible night.
"That night was a bad night. It was the same night me and Lillian had decided to leave. And I didn't tell you another reason why we left that night. Me and Lillian were deciding partly to leave two nights later but that night we both snuck downstairs and were sitting out on the back porch secretly talking. We decided to go to bed and we got inside when we the monster attacked. We panicked and turned around, running back outside. We decided right then and there together as we ran through the backyard that it would be best if we left two days earlier. So we ran across the street that was behind our house, through a couple of neighbor's yards across a soccer field and into the forest. And just as we suspected, the monster pursued. We led it from our house saving the court but endangering us in the forest," I said. "So yeah. Then we fought it and that's about it. I remember that night as if it were last night. It seems so vivid and recent."
"Oh. I'm sorry. I know its none of my business but I figured since you were in the dream, you'd be the best person to talk to and I don't feel comfortable talking about it to Lillian," Logan replied.
"No. It-its ok. I'm g-glad you t-told me," I stuttered. I had a bad feeling that our dad had sent the dream to him for a certain reason and not on purpose. I looked back hoping to see Alethia at the Zeus table but she wasn't there. That's unusual. I don't know why she wouldn't be eating, I thought.
After lunch, me and Logan walked to the pegasus stable where I could teach Logan how to ride a pegasus. He kind of freaked out when the horses started talking to him. I explained since Poseidon had made horses out of sea foam, we understand their thoughts and we can talk to them. He calmed down afterwards and together we flew around the camp which he got a kick out of. Logan thought the view was amazing as we rode in the sky and then he asked if we could go higher and I told him it was dangerous and just flying was dangerous for the child of Poseidon. He asked why and I told him it was because Zeus and Poseidon always fight about Mother Rhea always liking one of them better or sea disasters are better than sky disasters or my powers are better and stuff like that. So they've fought for millennia and they have grudges against one another. Also Zeus has always believed that Poseidon has been trying to unseat him from being king of the gods. That's why."
"Oh. Well this sight is still spectacular," he answered.
I was also looking for Alethia, hoping to see her but I had no such luck. Where could she be? I considered. I was starting to worry because if something had happened to her, I probably wouldn't be able to see her again. Well she could be in the infirmary after fighting a monster or someone, part of me thought. But I've known her for so long that I know she's not hurt! the other part of me argued. Oh shut up and just focus on helping Logan for the rest of the day and if you don't see Alethia or you can't contact her at all by the end of the day, talk to Chiron and see if you guys can do something to find her, said some small part of me and I focused on that part. When our pegasi's hooves had touched the ground safely, I jumped off quickly and ran to Lillian who was running up to the stables with a worried look that told me something was wrong.
"Have you seen Alethia?" she panted. "She told me that she would meet me at the arena after lunch."
"No. I haven't. I was looking for her when I was flying over camp with Logan but I didn't see her. You don't think she left camp without permission do you?"
"No way. I know she would ask for permission."
"Mmmm. True. But still, I haven't seen her ever since this morning. I didn't see her at lunch either which I thought was kind of weird," I answered frowning.
"Well lets try to Iris-message her and see. If we can't get through, then we'll have to go to Chiron and see if she left camp with his permission."
"Sounds like a plan," I said.
"Hey, why didn't you wait for me!" yelled a voice behind me. I turned to see Logan running towards us frowning with confusion.
"Because we have some depressing matters to discuss," I replied.
"Uh-oh. What's happening? What is the depressing news?" he asked arching his eyebrows.
I glanced at Lillian and she nodded, agreeing that we should tell him even though he barely knew Alethia although she didn't look to happy about telling him.
"You know that girl from the Zeus cabin? Daughter of Zeus?" I asked.
"Yeah, what about her?" he said.
"Well, me and Lillian have known her for a long time so she's like a sister to us but, well, she's missing from camp for some reason," I answered darkly.
"What? She's gone? What are we going to do? What if something happened to her? Who are we going to tell? How will we fi-," Logan stopped freaking out and then reasoned, "Wait. I'm sure she is fine. Its not like she just left. I'm sure she left for a reason and will return."
"No! Logan, you can't leave camp without permission. Walking out of camp would be suicide, monsters would attack you and even the most experienced monster fighter wouldn't walk out of camp without a reason," I answered quickly.
"Oh. What king of reasons?" Logan asked anxiously.
"You better not get any ideas, Logan. Or else," I said glaring suspiciously at him.
"Oh no. I won't. I promise," he said trying to look solemn and serious. I snorted.
"Yeah, you'll try to make sure you don't and you'll try to promise it."
"I'm serious!" he reacted, putting his hands up.
"Mmmm. Sure. Not exactly convinced."
"Anyways, what are the reasons."
I glared at him and finally answered. "Well, one would be having a quest. Another would be because you got permission to visit someone or because you have to leave camp early for school cause some schools start earlier than others."
"Oh. Well if you think I'm getting ideas at all of leaving camp, I'm not because there is no way that I'd be able to survive outside camp. Monsters would attack me every five feet." "Mmmm-hmmm. Well we were thinking that if we Iris-message her and then we can't get through, then we will talk to Chiron to see if she did leave camp with permission from him or not."
"That sounds convenient," Logan chuckled.
"Well, duh!" Lillian grumbled. "I came up with the idea."
"Hey, we both were thinking it but you announced it to me," I answered shaking my head
"Whatever. You always seem to know what I'm thinking," she said.
"And I think you know why," I replied.
"Yeah, I do," she said grimly. I chuckled and then clapped my hands together. "Well if were going to Iris-message Alethia, then we better start!"
"Yep! We should. We need mist and one golden drachma."
"Ok. Anyone have a golden drachma? Logan?"
"No. I don't have one."
"Lillian?"
She began to shake her head but she stopped and replied, "Wait. I think I might have on." as she reached into her pocket. She then said, "Ah-hah! Found one! Thank the gods!" she pulled a coin out and gave it to me. I grabbed a hose that we used for washing the pegasus and turned it on, making it face a certain way so that it caught the sunlight, making a rainbow.
"O Iris, goddess of rainbows, please accept my offering." I threw the coin in to the mist where it disappeared. "Show me Alethia." The image shimmered and a blurry scenery came up. It was so blurry that I couldn't make out anything. So I listened instead. I began to hear Alethia talking in the background but I couldn't make out the words. Then another voice appeared that sent a chill down my spine because it sounded very, very familiar. Then the image started vibrating and something that had never happened before to me, did.
A voice appeared and said in a polite voice, "You can not contact this area. This is out of service and is shut off from any other Iris-messages. Please unlock the connection code in order for the connection to work or please break the connection. Thank you." I stared at the Iris-message horror-stuck as the coin we threw in came back out and the connection shut off. The water shut off and the blurry, vibrating image disappeared. I looked at Lillian who was wide-eyed and surprised looking and then at Logan who had a questioningly look on his face instead. I growled in complete, absolute frustration, gave the coin back to Lillian and put the hose back.
"I guess its time to do Plan B. Talk to Chiron since we can't contact Alethia."
"Yeah. And that's never happened before with an Iris-message," replied Lillian.
"Lets go then," I snarled. Lillian looked at Logan with small distaste and we began walking towards the Big House, a well, big, blue, three story house with a mummy, our Oracle, in the attic. The Big House was the head camp quarters and the infirmary was inside that was always abundant with demigods from dueling or training activities. Chiron and Mr. D (you'll meet him later) also lived here. I always wondered how Chiron could sleep on a bed being half horse but that was the least of my worries. The house was also used to hold war councils for senior counselors of each cabin.
So as we walked toward it, I thought about the other voice. I was so sure that I'd heard that voice before. Besides, where was he? I hadn't seen him at lunch either. Or any other part of the day, only during breakfast. But he was quiet then which was unusual. Maybe, he had something to do with Alethia's disappearance.
A/N: WHO IS HE? You'll find out soon! :) REVIEW AND SUBSCRIBE PLEASE.