Here is the next chapter!

I am sorry it is posted later in the day. I got behind on schoolwork and my other stories. I usually post early in the morning and I will try to do so next week.

Many things have changed with this chapter, specifically the clothing and the encounter during dinner. A reviewer pointed something out and I thought I could make it work starting with this chapter.

Enjoy.

After tossing and turning in bed for nearly an hour, Mal turned on her side to face Uma, who was busy texting away on her phone.

"Can't sleep either?" Mal assumed softly.

Uma shook her head in denial, not once taking her eyes off her phone. "Cece's been texting me nonstop," she informed with a soft sigh. "She's been telling me how much she misses me and asking if I'm okay after what happened between me and Harry. I didn't call because I didn't want to wake you if you were waiting."

"I wouldn't have minded!" Mal insisted as she sat up from bed, tossing the blankets off her. "Celia is your sister. She's probably so excited you two will finally be in school together."

A little background on Uma before we continue. While her mother is Ursula, her father is Dr. Facilier, the Voodoo Man. That made Celia Facilier—a spunky fourteen-year-old with brown curly frizzy hair and similar dark skin tone—Uma's half-sister. Despite sharing only a father, the sisters loved each other unconditionally, like any siblings should. Since there is a five-year difference between them, they never been in the same school building until the new proclamation. Celia had been particularly delighted since she'd be in a few classes with her 'Umie'.

Finally tearing her eyes away from the glaring screen to look at the fairy, Uma unexpectedly snarled her nose in disgust. "What the hell are you wearing?"

Tilting her head curiously, Mal gazed down at her clothing before dropping her mouth in shock. Instead of the purple out she was wearing at her father's kingdom, she was now wearing a hideous orange shirt with the Camp Half-Blood logo and jean shorts that hugged her too much. Mal, admittedly, has a larger than normal booty and usually wears something to somewhat cover it. Over the past few years, she's become less self-conscious of her giant booty, but those shorts made her completely uncomfortable.

Looking up, Mal noticed something with Uma. "You're wearing the same thing!" Mal insisted.

Uma glanced down at her outfit, her eyes widening in shock at the revelation. The teal and turquoise—because the author can't tell the difference between the two colors—clothing she wore a couple hours ago had indeed been replaced with an equally repulsive orange-colored shirt and jean shorts that went to her knees instead of mid-thigh like Mal's, but still as skin clinging.

"Dad!" Mal shouted in aggravation. "What the hell is this!"

In a split second, a mirage of Hades appeared in front of the entranceway. "First, watch your language," the god scolded lightly. "A queen shouldn't speak in such a way. Second, every demigod in camp wears an outfit like the ones you have on now. It's like a dress code. You've been wearing it ever since you arrived."

"But Nico wasn't in that outfit!" Mal whined childishly. "Neither was Hazel! She was wearing a purple shirt while Nico wore a black shirt and dark pants!"

"Hazel is Roman," Hades began to explain slowly to help cool down her daughter's temper. "In the Roman demigod camp, that purple shirt is their dress code. As for Nico, Dionysus gave him permission to wear his dark colored clothing so he would feel more comfortable at camp since he had run away before."

"That doesn't explain why I'm wearing this outfit," Uma chided. "I'm not a demigod."

Hades winced. "Actually . . ." he began reluctantly, "my wife and I realized something while my other children were taking you two on the tour. Uma, although you aren't the daughter of a god, you are actually the grand-daughter of a god."

Seeing the confusion on the sea witch's expression, the god explained, "You already know that your mother and King Triton are siblings; however, Triton is actually a teenager here a couple years younger than you while there is no version of your mother here. Well Triton and your mother are the children of Poseidon, my other brother. That essentially means that you are the grand-daughter of Poseidon.

"This is actually perfect," Hades reassured. "It wouldn't make sense to have an ordinary mortal come to a demigod camp. Having Dionysus introduce you as the grand-daughter of Poseidon during dinner announcement tonight is a perfect way to have you fit in. I already spoke with my brother and he is more than willing to vouch for you if necessary."

Uma sighed softly at the news. "Fine," she grumbled. "Guess I have to live with it."

From a distance, a conch horn could be heard, the signal for dinner.

"I'll let you two head to the dining pavilion." Hades insisted, though his posture was tense from the announcement. "Each cabin has a table specific to them. You'll know which is yours. Good luck."

After following the worn-down trail and the crowd of teenagers around the ages of nine to nearly twenty, the VK women arrived at the dining pavilion with many eyes watching them. That didn't really bother the women since they had to overcome similar obstacles when first living in the kingdom of Auradon.

The thing that truly bothered Mal was those damn shorts she wore. Every few steps, the jean-like fabric rides up on her, forcing her to tug them down every other minute. She is an engaged woman after all and doesn't want teenage boys a few years younger than her eyeing her. After dinner she's doing something about it.

As promised, Mal and Uma found their designated table in the matter of moments. It really wasn't that hard since there was a small blue flame on top that no one else seemed to notice. As soon as they took their seat, the flame disappeared, like it was never there to begin with.

After wondering where the food was, a plate filled to the top with delicious cuisines appeared in front of each of the VK women, who sat across from one another. Without waiting for whatever they were supposed to do, they dug into their meal like they haven't ate anything in a week—which wasn't unusual on the Isle of the Lost. To be fair, the food they were eating was more delicious than Mrs. Potts ever cooked for them, but they wouldn't tell her that.

In the middle of their feasting, Hazel appeared with a bright bubbly smile on her face. Bumping her 'step'-sister's shoulder jokingly, Hazel practically sat on her lap before Mal scooted down the bench with a chuckle. The fairy found it so amusing on how Hazel reminded her so much of the spunky Celia.

"Hello to you too," Mal teased as she scooted closer to Hazel in the same joking manner. "What brings you to the table of outcasts?"

Instead of giving a verbal answer, Hazel practically slammed a pail filled with strawberries on the table. Mal squealed in delight as began chowing down on her favorite fruit.

"You better slow down," Uma warned in a teasing tone. "You won't be able to fit into your wedding dress if you keep eating like that. Evie's going to be mad if she has to make last minute adjustments on a dress she spent so much time on already. You're kind of acting like you're pregnant."

With a light glare, Mal reluctantly moved the pail of delectable fruit to the side. "Please, don't start that rumor," she begged forcefully. "The last thing Ben and I need is people thinking he's marrying me because I'm with his child. Besides, we haven't done anything yet."

Uma snorted in amusement. "Sure you haven't. Not like you told me a few hours ago that that was the reason you were late meeting me."

Blushing way worse than normal, Hazel pleaded, "Can we change the subject? I'd rather not hear about my stepsister's 'activities' with her fiancé."

Snickering at the younger teen's modesty, Uma complied with a smile. "Alright, so tell us, what's up with these seating arrangements?"

"It's camp tradition," Hazel insisted, gratefully for the change of topic. "Each cabin has a table dedicated to them, but most are unused during winter and spring due to most campers being in school. You could have gotten into major trouble if you sat anywhere before last week. Mr. D and Chiron decided to modify the rules since the discovery of Roman campers, like myself. During breakfast and lunch, the campers can sit wherever they want with whoever they want. During dinner, the demigods have to sit at their godly parent's table to show respect."

"What about you?" Mal questioned curiously. "Why are you here instead of with Nico?"

"Like I said, I'm Roman," Hazel reminded with a shrug, "which means I can sit here or at the Hades table, since he is the Greek version of my father. I wanted to sit here because I like you and Nico does too. Although you're Proser—Persephone's daughter, we really like you, but don't know exactly why. Nico says you remind him of his sister."

"Bianca?" Mal clarified curiously. "Step-Dad told me about her. He said she was killed when she tried saving her cousin, the son of Poseidon."

"That's what Nico told me too," Hazel clarified as she swiped a strawberry for herself. "He tries not to talk about her much anymore, hoping it will help him get over her death again."

"Uh . . ." Uma interrupted as she peered behind the sisters. "If you and Nico are the only children of Hades, then why is there a blond-haired surfer looking dude sitting next to him."

Turning to get a better look, Hazel perked up at seeing the teenager that was probably a year older than Nico, maybe just a few months. "That's Will Solace," she informed with a small smile before she and Mal turned back to face Uma. "He doesn't want Nico to get all depressed sitting by himself, so Will sneaks a few minutes with him when Chiron and Mr. D aren't looking. I usually manipulate the Mist to help Will from getting caught. Nico hasn't told anyone else yet, but he and Will are dating."

Mal whipped her head toward Hazel with wide surprised eyes. "Nico's gay?" Mal clarified curiously. "Why didn't he tell us?"

"Afraid of judgement," Hazel answered a little too easily. "It took him almost three years to tell Percy, the son of Poseidon, that he had a crush on him, which was only a week ago. Only a handful of campers know he's gay, which are our closest friends and cousins."

Before anything else could be said about the matter, Nico suddenly came to the table, taking a seat next to Uma and across from Mal. "Mr. D gave me permission to sit here," he informed with a careless shrug. "Something about how I needed to spend some 'quality time' with my step-sister."

After getting comfortable, Nico finally noticed the looks Mal and Uma were giving him. He sighed in annoyance. "Hazel told you I was gay, didn't she?"

"We don't care," Mal insisted calmly so her brother wouldn't over-react. "My childhood best friend—who I have known practically my whole life—finally told me he was gay a month before we transferred to our boarding school. That was nearly four years ago. I never thought little of him because of it. I love him like a brother too much to make something so small change anything between us."

Reaching forward to hold Nico's hand, Mal smiled reassuring. "Even though I have only known you for a few hours," she began with her smile growing, "I do love you, even if we are just step-siblings."

"What am I?" Hazel questioned with feign hurt in her tone. "Chopped liver?"

Chuckling slightly, Mal dropped Nico's hand to rub Hazel's head affectionately. "You know, I've always wanted an annoying little sister. Uma has one and she is a lot like you."

"Wait until I tell Celia," Uma joked between bites of fresh pineapple. "She's going to prank you really bad now."

Before more could be said, everyone reluctantly went silent so Dionysus could begin with the evening announcements. First, he introduced Mal as the daughter of Persephone and then Uma as the grand-daughter of Poseidon, as originally planned half-an-hour ago. To keep anyone from raising suspicion, the god explained that, since they would only be visiting camp for a week, Uma would stay in the guest cabin so Mal wouldn't be alone in an unfamiliar place.

Of course, there was the usual mutter of speculations and doubt. Some made nasty remarks at their unnatural hair color—though it was completely natural. Some wondered why no one discovered Mal being the daughter of Persephone sooner. Others wondered how the two were able to live so long without being attacked by monsters. A small handful questioned if Uma was really a 'descendant' of Poseidon.

Next, Chiron —the centaur that trained many heroes for many eons—continued with the delayed results of cabin inspections.

"Cabin inspections?" Mal muttered to her table as Chiron listed off the cleanest cabins and their rewards, which were first to have breakfast. "What's that?"

"Something we forgot to tell you about," Nico replied in the same low volume.

"Chiron!" Hazel shouted as a way to interrupt the old centaur. "We didn't tell Mal or Uma about the cabin inspections. Can they be exempt this one time?"

"I will allow it," Dionysus insisted before Chiron could deny the claim. "They are exempt because I also forgot to inform them prior to their visit. Now, Chiron, if you will continue—"

"Why are they getting special treatment?" yelled an Asian girl sitting with a group of demigods that could have come out of a fashion magazine. The seventeen-year-old had long black hair and wore too much makeup to try to be beautiful.

The teenager set her brown eyes on Mal as she sneered venomously, "Is it because she's the daughter of that useless goddes—"

Dionysus slammed his hands on the table as he abruptly stood from the head table. "Drew Tanaka, that is ENOUGH!" He shouted authoritatively.

With his eyes glowing to show his power, he glared at the demigoddess angrily. "You will not refer to Persephone in such a way. May I remind you that she is the wife of one of the Big Three—"

"Who she cheated on and had a child without." 'Drew' argued, her voice having somewhat of an impact on the other demigods, except for Mal and Uma. "Who knows how many more times she's cheated on Hades?"

Dionysus's glare deepened. "It seems you've forgotten that Persephone is my sister," he commented harshly. He turned his attention to the campers as a whole. "If I hear anyone saying disrespectful things about the Queen of the Underworld, you will be punished by me and I will personally inform the King of the Underworld! When you are judged in your after-life, he won't be as forgiving as me."

That cheerful proclamation caused the dining pavilion to become a gloomy atmosphere. Chiron quickly rattled off the rest of the announcements to which the demigods quietly muttered to one another afterwards.

"Well," Uma began as she took a bite out of a strawberry that she swiped from the pail without Mal knowing, "it looks like you found your new 'Audrey'."

Mal busted out in laughter, causing most of the campers to stare at her like she was crazy. But they already learned a little too quickly to not say anything bad about her in fear of repercussions.

After some time, Chiron announced the theme of the camp sing-off for that night would be rapping. Hazel quickly explained to the visitors that whoever wins gets first shower privileges in the morning for their whole cabin. Mal perked up at the news until . . .

You can't compete, Hades's voice warned in both his daughter's and Uma's mind. The demigods will immediately mistake you as the daughter of Apollo. Uma is the only one out of you two that can participate. I'm sorry.

Uma adverted her gaze to Mal, who was silently fuming angrily at the news. Looking straight into the sea witch's face with a straight face, Mal spat, "Kick their asses."

Uma smirked. "These poor unfortunate souls won't know what hit them."