Short Story Beginning

Here's just a little idea I had for the beginning of a story...

Josh sat weary eyed at the window sill. All the adults rambled on in the dining room, talking about this that and the other. And Josh really couldn't care less. He glanced down at his watch. It was nearly half past eight. He looked up again, out the window, which was streaked with water. It had been raining nearly all day, which meant Josh had been stuck inside the house all day. Cooped up with nothing to do, except play chess with his father or watch tv. Then his aunts and uncles came, as they did every Sunday evening for dinner. Talking on and on into the middle of the night.
Lightening illuminated the room bright white momentarily, turning Josh's normally red hair to gold. He closed his eyes against the glare. With his head tilted on his hand, his eyes closed and his body completely relaxed, one might have thought he were taking a cat nap, curled up at the window seal.
He continued staring out the window, thinking of everything and nothing all at once. The possibility of a driver's licesnse in a few months time. The many exams he would have to take this upcoming week- no of which he had studied for so far. (As if anyone actually did.) The previous episode of "Universal Wonders" he had watched that day. The friends he would see tomorrow at school. The need for sleep. The urge to tell his family to kindly shut up for a second.
He turned away from the window and slowly stretched out his leaden limbs, resolved to try to go upstairs and get some sleep, away from the babbling adults. Half asleep, he began walking across the living room towards the staircase that led upstairs. An uneasy feeling crept up his spine. The hairs on the back of his neck stood upright and his stomach coiled up in a knot.
Josh turned around, wondering if it was the adults staring at him from their place in the dining room. They were all doing as they had been for the past few hours. Chattering on and on and on. Yet he couldn't get rid of the uneasy feeling that he was being watched, observed.
Creeping past the staircase, Josh peered around for any indication of someone watching him.
A flash of lightening blazed through the windows. Josh squeezed his eyes shut against the blinding light. Blinking red spots out of his vision, he glanced round about him, looking for anything unusual. He saw nothing.
Probably paranoid, he thought. Too much tv and too much time spent trapped inside. He proceeded up the stairs.
It was quieter upstairs, with the adult's voices muffled to a mear murmur. Josh opened the door of his bedroom and was confronted with a wave of moist wind hitting him in the face. He had left his window open.
How he had been so stupid, he had no idea. He had probably opened it up during one of the brief intermissions or rain, and forgotten the close it. Josh just hoped that his stuff wasn't going to mold over the next day or something. That would be awful.
Beyond the splatter of rain, Josh heard a faint wimper. Perhaps an animal had been stranded outside. Poor thing.
Now much more awake than he had been a few minutes ago, Josh quickly tiptoed down the stairs towards the front door, making sure to keep an eye on the adults still babling away at the dining table. They always liked to tease him about his love for animals. And Josh wasn't one who appreciated teasing.
Grabbing a raincoat from the rack next to the front door, Josh slid outside into the wet, cold night. The porch light illuminated the street for him, eliminating the need for a flashlight. Already, Josh's red hair was soaked, turning a nearly brown color as it glued itself to his head. Thunder boomed.
A dark figure lay in the corner, ambiguous in the shadows. Indeed, he could catch whimpering now and then, though he couldn't quite discern what was making them.
As he got closer, he noticed that it wasn't a dog at all. Much too big.
Josh inhaled sharply. This was not what he was expecting at all.
Before him lay a boy, probably about his age, with cuts and bruises all along his cheek bone, as well as on his wrist, which lay exposed to the cold, moist air, as the coat he wore went only a bit past his elbows. The boy lay unconsious, his head propped up on the knee of a girl. She had long hair plastered to her back and face, which was bent down towards the boy. Her body was hunched against the wind- a pathetic attempt to block the two of them from the ongoing downpour of rain and wind.
She glanced up at him, her eyes wide. She seemed just as surprised to see him there as Josh was to see the two of them.
Josh knelt down next to the two of them, and tried to make his voice sound as gentle as he could.
"Hey there. My name's Josh. It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you. I won't turn you in or anything. I can help. It's alright, ok? Everything's alright."
She just stared up at him. Lightening struck and the girl's wide, staring eyes flashed a brilliant blue.
Josh gently pried the other boy off of her lap. She grabbed his wrist, her grip like iron.
"It's ok. I'm just going to bring him inside, ok?"
The girl nodded. Gosh, she was mute. He wondered if she could even speak english.
Josh pulled the boy up over his shoulder like a fireman, as he had practiced countless times in his Emergency Protocol class at school. The girl trailed behind him towards the front door.
He closed the front door behind him, as quietly as he could, and proceeded up the stairs. The boy he was carrying was much lighter than he would have suspected, which may not have been a good thing, but it certainly made it an easier trip with the stairs for Josh.
All three of them were soaking wet from the rain. Josh guided the other two to the bathroom, where they dried up the best they could. The girl dried off the still-unconsious boy first, covering him in a clean, fluffy towel before wrapping one around herself. She was still shivering. And silent.
"So, what's you name?", Josh asked quietly.
"My name is Katherine. And this is William.", she replied, in a voice much stronger than he had expected due to her silence earlier.
"Well, nice to meet you Katherine. What brings you away from home in such weather?"
There was silence for a while, Katherine staring at the boy at her feet. After what seemed like forever, she spoke, her voice so soft Josh had to strain to make out what she said.
"Long Story", she exhaled.
Josh had no idea what to make of that. Katherine was still shivering violently and William looked like he had been beaten dead. This was not the time to find out.
For now, he would situate them in the guest bedroom and tell his parent about it tomorrow morning.
"Well, Ms. Katherine," he smiled, "I've found you guys too. And that means you and him get to spend the night at the Nesdam Hotel: where we do not leave kids out on the street in the rain. If you'll follow me..."
He extended his arm towards her, and she took it, smiling the smallest of smiles for the first time.
And that was how it all began. 

Discontinued Story

Okay- so that story I started writing is really....well, it's just not developing the way I wanted it to. So I'm discontinuing it for the time being. I'm just going to start writing clips of a story and then see if I can weave them together after that. We'll see how it works out. Thank you for your patience with me and my developing author-skills.

Chapter 13: The Adventure Begins

                Once Andrew and Lauren were gone, Alex led Emily down a ways , following the outskirts of the Strawberry fields towards the armory to get Emily a weapon. He never told her where he was going, she just followed silently, lost in thought. She looked so depressed, and Alex couldn’t help but wonder why.

“You okay there?” he asked.

Emily looked up, her expression pained. “It’s all my fault. All over again. The prophesy Andrew told me- it’s happening isn’t it? And I caused it. I came here, I found a brother. I may have just doomed the world to a second darkness. I’m just bad luck, that’s what.” She sighed, and smiled weakly up at him. “Thanks for letting me stay with you, by the way. I don’t know if I could face the other demigods.”

 Her voice was quiet, solemn.

“That’s not all true.” Alex consoled, “No one can avoid fate: that prophesy was bound to happen sometime or other. You are NOT bad luck.”

Emily didn’t seem to believe him. She sighed. “When wisdom and water become intertwined, the two halves shall the other find. She who is three shall take they who gave birth. A second darkness shall engulf the earth; only through wisdom may all be saved. Or all shall be lost as the minds are enslaved.” Alex was completely taken aback at how she had just recited the whole prophesy from memory, but her expression stayed gloomy, continuing like nothing out of the normal had happened. “I get most of it: wisdom and water are Athena and Poseidon. Annabeth and Perseus, our parents. The two halves are me and Andrew, together making up the powers between Athena and Poseidon, which must be divided up between the two of us. Not all to one of the other, thus the whole ‘intertwined’ bit. The rest is what worries me. She who is three shall take they who gave birth. Andrew’s parents aren’t here, which makes me suspect that she who is three has kidnapped them or something. She’s planning to engulf the whole earth with darkness, enslave our minds, and the only way we can stop her is with wisdom. But how do you even do that? How on earth would you outsmart a goddess, who has the power to kidnap two powerful, polished heroes, enslave minds, and engulf the earth in darkness. And why does it have to be us? Why are we so special, or is it not us in the prophesy?” She huffed in exasperation, then gave Alex an apologetic look. “Sorry about monologue on you like that. I know my opinion probably doesn’t matter so much in the whole scheme of things. I’m really sorry.”

Alex nodded, his thoughts swirling together like a beehive that had just been bumped. Something she had said, as she explained her thoughts on the prophesy, made him think she had figured out more than he certainly had.

“You asked how we could outsmart a goddess, but no goddess was ever mentioned in the prophesy. And shouldn’t there be three goddesses, right? She who is three? Like a group of them, like the fates or something?”

Emily shook her head. “Maybe, but I think I know who she who is three is. I think.” She muttered, so quietly Alex could hardly hear her despite the fact she was right next to him.

“You want to tell me who it is?” he asked gently, trying to get her to open. She hesitated, her mouth opening to talk, before closing it again.

“I’m probably  wrong.”

“So?”

She just shook her head. “So it won’t even matter if I tell you because it’ll not even be right. And-” she looked around, searching for something he didn’t know. “And it’ll probably plague you with nightmares. I wouldn’t want that on anyone.”  

Alex wasn’t satisfied. “All demigods get nightmares, you know. It’s normal.”

Emily just shook her head. “You have no idea. It’s the reason so many monsters came at me, why it started to get so bad. Still-” she paused, considering something, “Still, this is a safe haven, right? That could be why I didn’t have them last night. No monsters can get in here.” She sighed.

“Hecate.”

Alex felt his stomach drop at least six inches. She had children here, at camp. And one was sitting in there, discussing the quest with Andrew, Lauren and the other head counselors. Hopefully he wouldn’t misguide them or something. That could be very, very bad.

He was so lost in thought, he barely realized they had reached the armory already.

“So, am I allowed to have one of these, or just use them for activities?” Emily asked, snapping Alex out of his daze.

                “No, you get to keep it. We just have to find something decent. You’re a child of Athena and Poseidon, so probably something like a sword or dagger, probably. We’ll see what works best.”

Emily thought for a second. “I’ve never really had a sword before, but I’ve used kitchen knives. Those are like daggers, and they worked well for me on the most part.”

“Um, only celestial bronze or imperial gold works on monsters, you know.” Alex pointed out. Emily cracked a smile.

“Exactly. That’s why I use them for self defense and setting up a trap which actually will kill the monster.”

She picked up a double edged sword by her foot, holding it at arm’s length away from her. She rotated the blade, examining every inch, and cautiously swung it a few inches. Alex could tell the balance was off, as she always listed to the left.

“I don’t think so. Let’s try another one.”

Emily nodded, strolling around the small warehouse like she were shopping at a mall. Alex began to look around himself.

“So would you normally go with something more powerful, something more maneuverable, or something else?” he asked, bringing over a few for her to try.

“I don’t think it really matters if I can’t use it well,” Emily pointed out, as she tried to lift up a particularly broader sword and nearly sliced off her own toes when she nearly dropped it. She weighed a dagger in her hand, tilting it from side to side.

“Technically, we’re supposed to use swords instead of daggers.” Alex pointed out. Emily sighed and placed the dagger back in the pile of weapons.

She jerked her head to the side like she’d been slapped. She spotted something on a shelf and walked over. Curious, Alex followed.

In her hand, she held a bronze gladius, maybe twenty inches long with a polished wooden handle at the end where a turquoise was embedded. She tilted it, her face seeming to turn almost blue when the gem caught the light. She ran her fingers along something engraved in the hard wooden hilt.

“Caliburnus." Emily whispered. She turned to look at Alex, frowning at his expression. “You said to chose a weapon. Why not this one?” she asked.

Alex shook his head. “It’s the design, a Gladius pompeianus, a roman model. I don’t even know how it could have gotten here, but the fact that a roman sword is in a Greek camp… well, it may not be the best omen.”

Emily stayed silent for a minute, studying a sword.

“Everything that’s happened so far has been a bad omen." she pointed out, "The way I came, who I am, the, um,” she hesitated for a second, “circumstances. All that. Honestly, it isn’t much different from what my life used to be like. Monsters followed me everywhere I went, so whoever was with me was always in danger. Greek camp or not, I’m still me. I’m bad luck. So, who else to take a bad-luck weapon than someone who is already bad luck?”

Alex didn’t quite know what to say. It was definitely a depressing thought- and unfortunately, it didn't seem to be a lie.  

She twisted the gem in the hilt. Why she did that, Alex hadn't the faintest idea. Emily  kept rotating her wrist until the gem twisted a full 360 degrees. The gladius shrank into a ring, the turquoise gem still gleaming on top. Emily smiled.

“Bad omen or not, it’s super cool.”

Alex smiled.

“You know,” Alex started, trying to keep up the optimism, “the Greeks and Romans finally got along during the Giant war some years ago. Maybe all the Roman stuff isn’t actually bad luck anymore.”

Emily smiled too. “Think they’re done yet?”

It took him only a second to realize the “they” was the senior counselors down at the big house. He shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”

The two of them set off back towards the Big House, Emily’s new weapon dangling at her side. However optimistic Alex tried to be, he couldn’t help thinking about the appearance of the gladius. He could have sworn it was definitely not there before. Plus, most weapons there did not usually have automatic disguises, like a ring or bracelet or pen. They were just weapons, hidden in leather sheathing.

They had only made it half way there when Andrew caught up with them, having dashed off to meet them all the way from the big house.

“Dude- what’s the hurry? And where’d Lauren go?” Alex asked. Andrew was breathing hard, but he managed to answer him still. “Lauren… went… back… to camp… not… going… on quest… my idea…” He looked a little ashamed at that last part, his eyes cast down upon the ground. “Have to..tell you…before…”

“Before what?” Alex asked, exasperated by his best friends a bit too melodramatic attitude. The world was not ending, and, as far as Alex was concerned, everything was fine, for the most part at least.

Andrew had gotten his breathing under control and stood up straight.

“Before she finds out.”

Alex didn’t quite get that answer, but Emily probably did.

“Could this she be three?” she asked. Andrew nodded.

“Quests can only have three people. Emily, you gotta come, you’re the second half, so to speak. And Alex, you’re coming with me too. That makes three. I don’t want Lauren to get hurt or- or something. The three of us will be fine. Let’s go.”

“Now?” Alex asked incredulously.

Andrew nodded. “You two have your weapons, right?” Both Emily and Alex nodded. Alex ran his finger over the bow slung over his back and the full quiver of arrows. He never went anywhere without them.

“Let’s go then. Chiron knows. But so do the children of Hecate. That’s not good. We need to go now.”

“But WHERE? And HOW?” Alex inquired. Andrew just smiled, looking expectantly at his little sister. “A ship. I’ll tell you where we’re going when we get there.”

Mr. Mysterious all over again. Alex sighed, following Andrew to the Long Island sound. The three of them trudged around the forest, past all the cabins and the Mess Hall until they finally reached the shore. A ship rocked gently in the waves, anchored down to be used in the mock sieges the campers sometimes did. A girl stood near it, looking a little miffed: Lauren.

“Laur-” Andrew started, but Lauren cut him off.

“I know why you did it, and I probably would have done the same thing is our places were reversed. The prophesy requires two halves, and having medical personal and a good archer, which you are most definitely not, by the way, is a good idea. I just came to wish you luck.”

She gave Alex a hug. Her soft, white blonde hair tickled his neck. When she pulled away, Andrew threw his arms around her and she hugged him tightly back.

“Promise me you’ll come back. Please.”

“I will.” Andrew promised. Lauren turned to Emily and the two girls embraced.

“I set some fresh new clothes for you all on the ship, you know, so you can freshen up a bit while on your voyage. Plus a few drachmas. You HAVE to iris message me, okay?”

Alex, Andrew, and Emily went aboard the ship. It was similarly built to that of the ancient Greek trireme but much more simplified. For one thing, it wasn’t nearly as long so it didn’t have the hundreds of oars you would normally see. And for another, the oars were spaced out over the ship, so there were one or two holes between each ore left vacant, empty. In the vacant oar holes were gleaming bronze ropes looped and knotted like a harness of some sort.

Alex almost jumped when the boat suddenly hummed to life. The boat rocked gently in the waves as the anchor lifted all on its own. The mast was let loose and hung ready to catch the slightest breeze. The ship seemed to have a mind of its own. Alex looked over at his two quest companions and was a little annoyed to see that neither or them looked startled in the least. Emily looked more relaxed than ever, and Andrew stood there smiling, looking mildly surprised at most. He lifted his hand and a wave pushed them off into deeper water. They all waved goodbye to Lauren, but soon she was just a mere speck in the distance. All the water around them made Alex nervous- no land for miles and miles. If something happened, it would be an extremely lengthy swim to shore.

Turning to his friend, he voiced the question that had been pestering his mind this whole time.

“So, where exactly are we going? And what are we doing?”

Andrew turned to his companions and grimaced.

“We’re going to Central America to rescue my parents and stop Hecate.”

Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Alex Follows

Alexander spotted his best friend from across the mess hall. Andrew and his sister were enjoying their food just a minute before, but now stared up at Chiron, who had just come up to them from the Aphrodite table. It was like he was a raincloud. Just a moment before, those two had been contentedly eating up their breakfast, then Chiron comes over, a few sentences are exchanged, and their parade was ruined. Andrew had a look of dread on his face, similar to that his new sister wore, except Andrew seemed to understand what was going on. Emily probably had no clue.

Alex looked around for Lauren, who was sitting with the rest of her Aphrodite siblings. Her usual light-hearted demeanor was now full of worry, which was not at all the normal. Alex felt left out of the loop. He really wished someone would tell him what was going on. It was really irritating sometimes that his two best friends were both head counselors in their cabins, and he was stuck under the leadership of Austin Swift, an over-confident, suave guy with sunshine blonde hair, a charming (and sometimes blinding) smile. He – Austin that is – would be told whatever his best friends were being told. But not Alex. He hadn’t been at camp long enough, or gone on quests enough, to be considered good enough to get that kind of first-hand information. If he could just go on a quest, which he had been training for over the last few years, he could outrank the oh-so-gorgeous Austin and finally get to the same place as his two best friends.

An observation quickly snapped him out of his own world. Andrew and Emily were gone. He scanned the mess hall to make sure they had left and caught Lauren’s eye.

The two of them got up from their tables, Lauren muttering an excuse for her dismissal. Alex didn’t bother. All the other Apollo kids were caught up in their own little conversations, bragging and betting and boasting and sometimes adding in poetry just for the fun of it. No one would give much of a care as to where Alex was going.

He met up with Lauren at the doorway and the two of them headed outside. Lauren spotted the two first, heading down towards the big house. She didn’t seem surprised, and Alex had the sneaking suspicion she had known where they were headed before she had realized where they were. She was probably going there too.

Alex sighed.

“So, what did Chiron tell you guys?”

Lauren gave Alex a sympathetic look, which just made him feel more embarrassed.

“He’s calling a last-minute meeting for all senior counselors to discuss something important. Everyone’s supposed to come right after breakfast. It must be urgent. And-” She hesitated. “And… I think it has something to do with the great prophesy.”

Alex rolled his eyes.

“I think we figured that out this morning, ‘member? In the stables, like, I don’t know, a half hour ago maybe?”

Lauren slapped him, not hard of course. Just playful.

“I know.” She sighed, “but prophesies mean quests and quests mean that we have to fix something, right? So- what would need fixing? Saving? Whatever it is? It’s got to be big, and when the stakes are high, people get hurt. And if Andrew has to go-” she stopped, realizing her voice had been rising higher and higher as the worry leaked into the sentences. Alex knew how she felt. The three of them had been best friends for years. Alex knew him better than anyone else. If anything happened to him…Alex shoved those thoughts aside. No use worrying about “what-ifs”.

“It’ll be fine.” Andrew consoled. “Before you get all worked up, how about you just find out what’s the problem. Then we can worry about all those worries of yours.”

Lauren nodded, and her voice was completely normal when she spoke again.

“We’re almost caught up to them. Let’s speed up a little.”

The two of them began to half jog, half power walk towards the two Jackson siblings. Lauren came up on Andrew’s left and Alex on Emily’s right, sandwiching the two siblings between them.

“Hey Andrew, how’s it going?” Lauren asked, brow furrowed and eyes searching his face with concern. Andrew sighed.

“A little rushed, maybe overwhelmed.” He glanced sideways at his sister, who was seemed to be in a world of her own, silently pondering over everything that was going on. Emily caught his eye and seemed to come back to reality.

“Andrew told me about-about the prophesy. What he thinks is going on.” She hesitated for a second, unsure as to whether or not she should continue. “I- you know what? Never mind.” She looked down at her feet, avoiding eye contact with any of them. 

They drew closer and closer to the big house. Time was running out until Alex would have to go. He, in all technicalities, was not invited.

No one could think of anything to say anymore, anything past the how-are-you-s and such. Too soon, they were there, and Alex would have to leave. He muttered a goodbye to his friends and turned to walk away.

“Wait- why are you going?” Emily asked tentatively. Andrew might have explained to her about his life, about his friends, about the prophesy, about “everything”, but this small little detail was one no one in their trio liked to bring up. He sighed and turned towards Emily, who shrank back just a little when he looked at her.

Trying to rid his tone of any of the frustration, anger, or hurt he felt, he replied, “This meeting is only for senior counselors. Not me.”

“Oh.” She looked down at her shoes again, ashamed to have brought up such a matter. Then she looked up, realization coming upon her.

“I’m not a senior counselor either. Andrew is, right? I’ll keep you company until the counsel is over. Would that be alright?” she looked from Alex to Andrew to Lauren, her eyes darting between the three of them. Alex smiled. He liked that idea. It was a lot less lonely.

                Lauren smiled. “Of course that’s alright. Come on Andrew, we’ll tell you guys everything.”

She put her arm around Andrew’s shoulder and turned him towards the counsel, leaving Emily and Alex to outside the Big House, awaiting their report on the meeting.

 

What you have hopefully just enjoyed was a rough draft, and any feedback on this is very highly appreciated, but please remember to be as honest as possible. No sugar coating. :)

Chapter 11

Chapter 11: The Two Halves Shall The Other Find

                Emily watched her brother anxiously. Would he believe her or just think she was making all this stuff up? She hoped the Athena giving journal thing was pretty normal. She already stood out too much, like usual, but normally that was because she was a demigod. A demigod with what seemed like the worst luck in the world. Now she was in a group of other demigods like her, and she still seemed to stand out. Apparently stumbling into camp via the woods after being chased by monsters wasn’t exactly the most normal demigod entrance. On top of that, she had had to be hospitalized due to blood loss and a broken bone, staying in bed instead of joining the other in the normal camp activities. When she had flown the Pegasus- she absolutely adored horses- and found out she could actually understand Pegasi that had been unique too.  Now she was claiming to be Andrew’s long lost little sister. Oh yeah. She definitely stood out.

                Andrew’s eyes flitted between the silver lettering on the page and Emily. He finally turned to his friends and asked if they could go away for a minute. That just made Emily more nervous. Whatever happened, it might be in her best interest to have a few witnesses. Lauren dragged Alex away back towards the stables, though Emily wasn’t sure why they didn’t just go to the Mess Hall to get breakfast or something. After a minute or two, Andrew turned back to Emily. He looked like he’d just figured out the cure for cancer, with eyes wide with astonishment and unbelief while a grin slowly spread across his face.

“I’m not an only child. That’s not true anymore. I-I think I remember.”

With that, he threw his arms around his little sister and hugged her tight. Emily felt relief flood through her. He didn’t yell at her, or accuse her of being a liar, or flip out on her completely. He even said that he remembered her, even though she had almost no memory of him or their family.

                Andrew pulled away, beaming at her, his eyes looking her over as if seeing her for the first time.

“How long have you known this?” he asked

“About two hours, give or take.” She paused before asking somewhat hesitantly, “Have you suspected something like this would happen? I thought you might yell at me or call me a liar or-“

Andrew cut her off before she could finish, “or completely disregard a evident hint from my grandmother, who knows everything, that you’re the little girl from the photo, the lost half,”

He paused, obviously noticing Emily’s confused expression.

“There’s something I got to show you. But first, I promise, we’ll get you some breakfast.”

They set off towards the mess hall together, the tension between the two of them depleted almost completely within those few minutes.

Walking down to the mess hall, Emily considered how emotionally messed up the few days had been. First, she’d been running away from yet another horrible monster, forced to leave any friends she’d managed to make, mortal though they be, and chased nearly to dealth until she’d passed out in the woods. Then, she’d been relieved to be safe in a camp full of people who knew what it was like to be chased by monsters. She’d felt a little defensive, maybe even ashamed, of herself, thinking of how strong everyone else here must be. She’d found friends, and everything was on the verge of being normal when Athena, her immortal grandmother, reveled that she was Andrew’s sister, meaning she wasn’t a traditional demigod, but the daughter of the son of Poseidon and daughter of Athena. Her health had been restored with uncanny speed it was like magic, which Emily supposed it was. All that was left was a brace on her shoulder, and even that was beginning to become useless as her shoulder had nearly mended itself. It all seemed too good to be true, but her hopes of just fitting as much as any demigod could had been squashed by the strange facts that surrounded her, the strangest of which had to do with her family tree. All of this within, what? Two, almost three days? Now, at last, she was going to face all the other demigods in the mess hall guided by her enlightened new found brother, Andrew.

“You alright?” Andrew asked. His eyebrows were creased in concentration as his dazzling grey eyes studied her face, trying to diagnose her expression.

Emily tried for a smile. Her brother had been so understanding and helpful. Not to mention he had saved her life. She wished she would have been able to grow up with him. He was the best brother any girl could wish for. She just hoped she could meet his standards.

“Never better. So, all this stuff you’re going to tell me. You’re being strangely secretive about all this. Why do we have to wait until we get to the mess hall and why did you send Lauren and Alex away?”

Andrew’s expression relaxed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo which he handed to Emily. She examined the picture. It was a family of four, a mother with curly blonde hair falling loose across her slim yet athletic figure and grey eyes alight with intelligence and joy. She held a small baby girl in her arms, wrapped in a blanket so that only some of her blonde curls stuck out. Next to them was an impressive-looking man with dark, windswept hair and jubilant sea green eyes like a soldier returning from war. A little boy with that same dark hair was below him with eyes grey as his mothers and a wide grin spread across his face.

“This is us? When we were little?” Emily guessed.

Andrew nodded and gently accepted the photo when Emily returned it to his grasp.

“I found it in my parent’s room one night, when they were gone. Kept it on the desk in my room. It never made much sense to me, since I never remember having a little sister, that is, until last night.”

He told her about the dream he’d had the past night: the memory of when the two of them had been separated. Emily felt her skin tingle with goose bumps during the last part.

“You’re an only child now. And that’s what you’ll remember for as long as it is the truth.” Andrew repeated. “Come to think of it, it must have been some sort of magic or something: some enchantment so that I’d never remember having a little sister as long as you were gone. Now I’ve found you, I remember, since it’s not true that I’m an only child. Question is: who did it and why?”

The way he said the last question, Emily suspected he had an idea what the answer was. Before Emily could push for any more answers, though, they reached the Mess Hall where groups of campers, probably from the same godly family, enjoyed their breakfast together. All those demigods in one place. The feeling was ominous and intimidating. Andrew put his hand over her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile.

“Come on. You’ll be at my table.”

The two of them walked over to a table set with silver goblets, plates, and silverware.  Andrew picked one up and Emily did the same with another.

“Bacon and Eggs” Andrew told it. Food appeared on the plate, warm and inviting like it had just been cooked. Emily copied him and was satisfied by the bacon and eggs that appeared on her plate. She followed Andrew to a blazing brazier, where he scraped off select food from his plates and muttered,

“Poseidon.”

Emily followed his example and, assuming this was an offering to the gods of some sort, muttered Athena instead. The smell of the fire was amazing: bacon, eggs, sausage, pancakes, fruit, yogurt, French toast, waffles, and other scents Emily couldn’t quite identify. Normally, the combined scents would have made her sick, but strangely, these combined nicely to produce a wonderful aroma. The two of them returned to their places at Andrew’s table, and began to devour their breakfast. Emily tried her best to eat slowly, knowing too much too fast could make her sick, but the hunger won out and soon her plate was clean. A centaur clip-clopped over towards their table. Chiron, Lauren had told her. His expression was grave and extremely serious. Before he could say anything, Andrew stood to address the centaur, the sentence seeming to burst out of him.

“Chiron! The lost shall the other find, it’s all fitting together. I remember now- Emily’s my sister!”

His voice was hushed but full of barely contained excitement. It seemed like he had just figured it out all over again.

Chiron’s expression lightened a bit, his frown easing into something just short of a smile.

“How are you feeling, my dear?” he asked, though the way he said it made Emily feel like he probably already knew most of the answer.

“Just fine, what about you?” she answered, mustering as much confidence as she could into those few words.

Chiron’s frown returned and he looked, if possible, even more worried than before.

“I shall explain everything at the counsel I shall conduct as soon as breakfast is over. All senior counselors are dismissed from their usual morning activities to accommodate this last-minute meeting. I fear you are correct, Andrew. Everything is fitting together.”

Andrew’s face fell. It was almost heartbreaking to see her brother go from excited, relishing the fact that he had found his little sister, that he could remember her even, like he had just solved a puzzle he’d been working on for years. Now, with only a few words, his euphoria had instantly melted into worry and dread like he’d just been handed a death sentence. Chiron walked away, leaving Emily as confused as ever, just when everything had started to make a little sense.

Her brother just stared at his plate, not daring to make eye contact. She wasn’t sure what to say, and scared of the answer as to why those few sentences had completely flipped his mood. The food on her plate seemed cold, unappetizing. Something was horribly wrong and she had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with her being there.

Guilt swept over her. For as long as she could remember, her presence had endangered those around her. She was a constant target for many monsters, of which wouldn’t mind hurting those around her in the process. Nothing she did could ever stop that. Monsters came and went, leaving her friends and sometimes kind-of family with injuries to prove they were there. All her fault. All of it.

Now, among so many other demigods, she had done it again. She had seemed to stand out from the beginning: she was too old of a recruit, her entrance was different from any other recruit, her heritage was like only one other demigod she knew here, and that was her brother. A brother she had only known was hers for less than a day. The same day Chiron had to announce an emergency meeting. Emily had done it again.

She suppressed an urge to get away from this safe-haven camp, to avoid hurting any more people she cared about. She needed to stay to support her brother; especially after all he’d done for her.

Finally, Andrew stood up, gesturing for Emily to follow him out of the mess hall. She stood up and obediently trailed along after her brother. The two of them headed down past the cabins, staying close to the river flowing into the lake nearby.

And he began to tell me everything.

*Hoped you liked it!! If not, please say so so that I can improve this draft. :)