A New Camper

Crystal, a tall, brunette demigod, sat by Thalia's tree and stared blankly at the sunset. She had always enjoyed sunsets, but at the moment she was too frustrated to really notice it.

"How come Percy and Annabeth get all the quests?" she wondered aloud. "Even Grover always gets to go with them! I mean, come on! I'm athletic, I'm good with a bow, I'm fast, I'm a freaking daughter of Apollo, for crying out loud, and I don't get to do anything! Why should they get all the fun?" She stood up, kicking a stone angrily for emphasis, and began to pace back and forth.

"My, my, still ranting?"

Crystal turned to see Katie, the dark-haired, brown-eyed, and all around shady-looking daughter of Hermes leaning against Thalia's tree behind her.

"I don't have any valuables on me," Crystal said matter-of-factly to the sixteen-year-old.

"I know; I already checked," Katie replied nonchalantly, fiddling with the bottom of her fingerless gloves. She pushed off from the tree. "I can't believe you're still talking about Percy's new quest. Seriously, everyone knows he gets picked for every single quest that comes up. It's just the way things go. He's smart, strong, a good leader, he's had tons of experience and hasn't gotten killed yet, after so many years, and to top it all of, he looks like Logan Lerman!"

Crystal couldn't help but smile slightly at that last comment. Even she admitted that Logan Lerman was kind of hot, and she never said things like that!

"Plus this is a really important quest," The daughter of Hermes continued, "that's why Percy was sent on it."

"But he's a junior camp director," Crystal replied miserably, "he shouldn't be allowed on quests."

"Look, the rumor is that his quest had something to do with Poseidon, so of course he'd be picked to go on it!"

"Your point?"

"My point?" Katie asked incredulously. "My point is that they left three days ago. My point is that it's old news, and you're still ranting about it! Come on, they're way older than us, and they've been on quests since they were twelve. They've never failed before. They're the first pick because they consistently do exactly what they are supposed to do. Besides, it's time to face the facts: we never get to do anything! I mean, I've been here for four years and I still haven't gotten a quest. Nothing. Zilch. A big fat zero." A loud conch horn blew in the distance, cutting off whatever Katie was about to say next. "Hear that?" she asked. "Time to get back to our cabins. Another incredibly boring day at Camp Half-Blood has passed. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah," Crystal gave a slight sigh, "tomorrow. Hey, Katie?

"What?"

"Do you think we'll ever go on a quest?" she asked.

"I wouldn't hold my breath."

Crystal woke up early the next morning as she always did so she could do a quick run around the camp grounds and hop in the shower before breakfast. The sun was already shining, so naturally, as a daughter of Apollo, she ran faster than she would have if it was a cloudy day. When she was finished running, and was doing a cool-down jog, Katie caught up with her, huffing and puffing.

"What is it?" Crystal asked.

"I just saw it! I mean, I was just sitting there, and . . ."

"What? What?" Crystal was practically bouncing up and down with energy. Unlike Katie, she wasn't out of breath. She was used to running every morning, and obviously Katie wasn't.

"Someone was running up Half-Blood Hill with a satyr!" Katie exclaimed.

Crystal blinked a few times and tugged on a strand of her light brown hair. "You mean, like, another demigod?"

"Yes! Duh!" Katie cried, exasperated. "What else could she be? But, more importantly, they're being chased by monsters! Lots of them!"

"What? Well then what are we doing standin' around here? Come on!" Crystal dashed towards Thalia's tree with Katie on her heels. When the two girls reached the tree, they could see a satyr practically dragging a young woman up the hill as a group of several harpies flew overhead, shrieking and raking the two figures with their sharp fingernails.

"Those aren't our harpies," Katie warned unnecessarily.

"We've got to help her!" Crystal cried. She started forward, then stopped abruptly. "Wait, I don't have a weapon!"

Katie pulled a dagger off her belt and handed it to her friend. "You do now." She herself grabbed a brace of daggers out of their sheaths and sprinted after Crystal towards the fight.

The harpies turned and screeched at the two half-bloods racing towards them. One dove towards Katie, but with her lightning-fast reflexes the young thief ducked under the monster, then spun around to stab it in the back. With a glass-shattering scream, the harpy turned to dust, something all monsters tended to do when killed. Crystal quickly joined the fray and stepped between the two strangers and the harpies.

"Go!" she ordered. "Up the hill, now! Once you get past the tree, you'll be safe." The young woman looked up at Crystal. The daughter of Apollo could see the terror and indecision reflected in the pair of wide eyes the woman looked at her with.

As Crystal was distracted, a harpy flew up behind her and raked its fingernails across her back, leaving her orange Camp Half-Blood shirt in tatters and giving her a deep wound. She screamed in pain and spun around, barely dodging another swipe from the harpy.

"Go!" she yelled again, blocking another attack.

The young woman nodded, and she scrambled up the hill along with her satyr friend. By the time they passed the tree, Katie and Crystal were back to back, fighting for their lives against the swarm of monsters. Each demigod bore a number of wounds, but they refused to let their guard down.

"Hey, Katie?" Crystal called, sinking her knife into the heart of another harpy.

"What?" the daughter of Hermes grunted as she blocked another strike.

"Do you think trying to rescue that demigod out alone was a dumb idea?"

"Yeah," Katie replied, "I definitely do."

Suddenly they heard the sound of a horn being blown. The harpies heard it too, and with shrieks of terror they flew away, leaving Crystal and Katie alone in a pool of their own blood.

"Is that . . .?" Crystal began.

"The Ares cabin patrol? Yes, I believe it is," Katie responded, relieved. Then, as if one cue, both girls blacked out, crumpling against each other.

Katie woke with a start, the taste of ambrosia in her mouth. She coughed a few times, then sat up slowly.

"What happened?" she asked groggily.

"You acted like an idiot, that's what," came a voice Katie knew could only be one person. The camp director, Mr. D, or Dionysus, as he was better known.

"Gee, thanks," Katie said, but she couldn't muster the energy to make her words sound sarcastic. "What about that demigod?"

"She's fine," answered another, more gentle voice with a slight southern drawl that made 'fine' come out 'fahne'.

Katie looked up to see a brunette girl of about fifteen holding a bowl and spoon.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Micaela, and I'd like to let you know that I think someone from the Apollo cabin should be nursing you back to health, not me. A daughter of Athena has more valuable things to do." She rolled her grey eyes.

Katie wanted to ask why, if she was a daughter of Athena, did she have brown hair instead of blond, but she was too slow, and Micaela talked first. "Here, take some more—"

"Ugh, stop shoving things down my throat!" Katie groaned and pushed the bowl of ambrosia away. "I'm fine, so you guys can leave me alone now." She stood up to leave. Immediately, she regretted it, because she felt lightheaded, but she forced herself to stay on her feet.

"You might want to sit down," Micaela warned.

"Go away!" Katie grunted, pushing her way past Micaela and out the door. She blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the direct sunlight. Apparently, classes were in session, because she could see from across the creek that the archery range was full. She perched on a fence and stared out at the camp as she attempted to regain some of her strength.

"You're up, I see," Crystal said as she came over and sat down on the fence beside Katie. "How are you feeling?"

"Like crap."

"Tell me about it."

"Hey, do you know anything about what happened to that demigod we saved?"

"Her? Oh, yeah. Apparently she's über important or something like that, because Chiron whisked her away before anyone could really find out anything more than her name. Sarah."

"Katie, I am trying to help you," Micaela said as she burst out of the cabin. "Can't you at least let me try?"

"I said I was fine, okay?" Katie said, annoyed. "Go away. Don't you have things to do?"

"I have to help you. That's what Chiron told me to do." Micaela placed her hands on her hips.

Katie opened her mouth to speak again, but Crystal cut her off.

"Hey, check it out. Looks like something's going on at the archery range."

The three girls could see a group of ever-increasing campers standing around. Shouts could be heard even from across the creek.

"I wonder what's going on," Micaela said. "Shall we go see?"

"Yes, let's," agreed Crystal.

The three girls vaulted the wooden fence rail and jogged towards the scene. As they approached, a member of the Hermes cabin dashed towards them.

"Come on! We need all the help we can get!" he called, waving them towards the large group of campers.

The three demigods looked at each other and shrugged.

As they continued towards the crowd, they could hear what the campers were saying. There seemed to be two groups. One was much smaller than the other, consisting of only ten campers, but they had a look of confidence on their faces.

"You children of the Big Three think you're so superior to us!" a camper from the larger side yelled.

"Now, now," a camper, obviously from the Poseidon cabin, stepped in, "nobody ever said anything about us being super—"

"That's because we are superior," a tall, pale-skinned camper interrupted. Judging by his black clothes and overall depressed look, Katie figured he was a son of Hades.

"Then why don't you step up here and prove it?" challenged an Ares camper.

"Because I don't waste my time on idiots from the Ares cabin," replied the Hades camper. "Especially since you're from a lesser cabin."

"Hey!" a daughter of Aphrodite harrumphed. "We aren't the lesser cabins! They are!" She pointed to the children of Hecate, Nemesis, Iris, and other minor gods.

"Not true!" snapped a Nemesis camper.

"Alright, everyone calm down!" Katie interrupted, stepping in between the two groups, "We all know that if we got into a fight the kids of the big three would lose because there's a lot less of them, so there's no point in fighting."

Just then, a member of the Zeus cabin gave her a kick in the back and sent her sprawling to the ground.

"Think again," the dark-skinned camper gloated.

Katie gave an agitated groan and rolled onto her feet. I'm sure I wouldn't get in too much trouble if I gave him a few cuts, she thought. She gave one of her daggers a fancy flip and dropped into a fighting stance. She was about to charge the camper and catch him off balance when suddenly a loud and incredibly angry voice boomed from across the field.

"What is going on?"

A murmur of horror rippled through the crowd as each camper turned to see Mr. D standing in front of them. His naturally red face was flushed even more with rage, and despite his short and fat build, he still looked intimidating. The campers also noticed a woman with flaming red hair standing behind him that most of them recognized.

"Well?" Dionysus's eyes flashed as he looked from camper to camper. Everyone remained silent. "Oh, you've all lost your tongues, I see. Alright, fine, no breakfast and no dessert today!" he yelled. Then, as if realizing that those two things didn't seem like enough punishment, he added, "and I'll think of something else incredibly nasty for you to do. I was going to announce that the Oracle, Rowan Mare—"

"Rachel Dare," the woman corrected.

"Renee Care has come to visit camp, and maybe I would have even held some sort of celebration, but apparently you campers are either too stupid or too naive to realize that fighting with each other just doesn't 'fly' around here! Everyone back to your cabins, now! Before I turn you all into chipmunks!"

Everyone muttered in unison, "Yes, Mr. D."

"Mr. D," that tall Hades camper took a step forward, "I just want to say, I've always admired your leadership skills, and I think you're looking particularly dashing today—"

"Shut up, Alfred," Mr. D snapped. "Don't try to butter me up!"

"My name's Alec, sir," the camper mumbled.

"Whatever Alex, get to your cabin!"

"Alec," he muttered as he shuffled away. "Come on, Megan, let's get out of here," he said to the other Hades cabin member, who was much shorter than him. The two of them scampered off before Mr. D could yell at them anymore.

"Well?" Dionysus's eyes were still flashing angrily. "Did you all lose your hearing too? Get out of here!"

"Yes Mr. D," everyone said and quickly ran away.