Young Writers Society

Alex Mullins ~ Ares

Abri's a nice girl, only misunderstood, I try to convince myself, but somehow know it's not true. I've known her for years, three years maybe? And we just hit off the first day I met her. Somehow we get along. We both have quick tempers and a twisted humor, but we get along. The biggest difference between us is that she was truly mean, not just as a show, but deep down, she was all hatred, whereas although I can get angry, I don't hold it against people. I don't treat people badly and am very friendly actually. She didn't get along easily with many people, but she got along with me. We were close, but not romantically, just friends. I was thinking all these things as I made my way to my cabin. Picking up Trygve, my trusty sword (whose name actually means trustworthy), I scanned the room. Of course Lexi wasn't here, she was probably off beating up a newbie or showing off her fighting skills. She was a tough girl and I was proud of her. I dashed out the door, Trygve in hand, ready to face whatever life brought my way.

Gemini - Arena - Monday Night

"Well" I said preparing myself for a long explanation.

"I left to get revenge on the Gods, Zeus killed my Mom, my Step Dad, my brother and sister five years ago. Five years ago, I was lead by the ghostly apparition of my mother to Camp Half Blood, to train under Chiron. I spent a full year training, I met you two, you two made my training easier, more doable, because I had friends that I didn't have before Zeus killed my family. Then Chiron told me what I was born to do." I said pausing to take a breath.

"What, were you born to do Gem?" I could hear the worry in Lexi's voice.

"I was born to murder the gods, murder Zeus, and take his place on Olympus as the next Goddess of Lightning and Sky." I said.

"I was born with the Gift to kill Dia Immortals" I said finally.

I stood there with my back turned to Lexi and Abri, I couldn't tell what there expressions are or what they were thinking. I took a deep breath, waiting for there judgement, I grab my blade and sling it on my back, but then decide to add more.

"There are twelve of us, each destined to murder our parent and take there thrones, and become the next God or Goddess of whatever. For five years I've been searching out the other eleven who would stand with me against the gods, I have only found six of them. I came back to Camp Half Blood because there is another here, I can feel the aura they give off, it's powerful, but I have discovered a second here, somewhere, I don't know where though." I said.

I was inside of the gate enterance to the Arena now, and to my left I could sense someone right there, there Aura was there, one of the Juggernauts. I turned my head and stared intently into the darkness of the wall.

"You can come out, I can sense you in the darkness," I said.

Lexi and Abri were still trying to process the information I had given them, when no one moved from the darkness, my hand darted into the darkness and grabbed a shoulder and pull the person out of the darkness and into the light. A short girl with black hair a knee high skirt and army boots, then fnally her green eyes.

"Who are you?" I asked.

I looked at Lexi and Abri, Lexi finally snapping out of it and stepping forward before the girl could talk, and I was near sure she wasn't going to talk to the girl I just caught.

"Your crazy Gem!" of course I was!

"Killing the gods, we are litterally after the Titan War, and you say you want to kill the Gods?!"

"Gemini, you may have been gone for five years and are out of touch with recent events but,"

"I know about the Titan War, I was involved in it working for Kronos, but in the end he proved to weak to beat the Gods, so it's my turn for his Grand Daughter to prove her strength and kill the gods!" I said.

"Gem..." Abri had remained quiet for most of this so far, about time she spoke up.

"Listen, I know you want Revenge, but there is a time where you have to let go and just get on with your life," she said.

"I will get on with my life, once the gods are dead," I grab the shoulder of the girl who had been listening in to the entire conversation so far and push her behind me. "Weather you two are a boon or bane in the future has yet to be seen, catch you two around." I said.

I grab the girls shoulder again and push her along, away from the arena and my friends, I push her towards the forest where I hope to get some privacy in the case I need to run her though with my blade.

"Now, your going to tell me who you are, and what you can do, so get snappy with it," I said.

Ben Richard-Son of Apollo- Monday night

I watched as Rand took aim at the targets and fired the celestial bronze tipped arrows out from the bow like it was an automatic machine gun. Every target in the feather fletched wake of the projectiles were decimated on impact. I watched as wood dust flew through the air like blood coming from the targets. I stood there, impressed at the amount of carnage one could do with a bow. It only took twenty seconds for each front row target to be figuratively killed on impact. Five head shots, two dummies had an arrow buried in their chest and one perfectly placed shot to the eye followed by a fletch sprouting from the throat.

As the dust in the air settled and Rand signaled for me to follow him into the woods, I saw Chiron trot up to us. "And where do you think you're going Rand?" he asked.

Rand looked up with a mixture of confidence and like he was a little kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "We were going to go find out what turned the moon red."

Chiron nodded in mock approval, "And what lead are you two going off of, so you can start your search?"

"W-well, Ben here is closer to Artemis than any other person in this camp."

"And you think this gives you two a right to go sneaking off in the middle of the night, past curfew. After a party, that mind you, I turned a blind eye on? Besides don't you think the gods, especially Artemis have noticed this? Or do you think they are too lazy to do something about this and are expecting two children to do their work for them?"

Chiron had his arms crossed and looked at Rand expectantly, I could tell he was going to say something sarcastic that we would both regret, so I jumped in as he opened his mouth. "Of course not, Chiron. Now that you have explained to us of our ignorant ways, I think we were just leaving."

Chiron smirked at me but kept his steady gaze on us as we left for our cabin. It was clear that this was the last time people were going to be allowed to stay out after curfew without the harpies getting involved. Rand looked at me and sighed with relief.

"Man that was close, to tell you the truth, I was just trying to impress Harlow. I had no idea what we were going to do after we got into the woods, so I guess it was a good thing Chiron showed up when he did."

I looked at him and laughed, to tell you the truth I didn't want to go either. Besides somebody messing with Artemis was my problem, not Rand's. I was going to be the one to take my revenge, no one messes with my aunt.

Aiden- Poseidon- In the cabin

I guess I managed to get my stuff from the other cabin, and found an empty bed to claim as my own. The other girl finished writing and left, and I found myself sitting by myself in the cabin. I realized that while I'd gone to get the few belongings I brought when I ran away, someone had come and given me the things I was missing. I arranged a folded blue blanket and leaned the pillow against the wall.

Just as I was beginning to drift off to sleep, the girl came back and flopped onto her bed. "Abri's back," she mused. I glanced at her, and she seemed to remember my presence.

"Oh yeah, hi. You're the new kid, Aiden, right?"

"Yeah," I slid my feet over the edge of my bed to face her better. "I don't remember your name."

"Riley," she answered. She picked up her notebook and fingered it lovingly. "Ness and I are the only Poseidon kids, well, and now you." I smiled, feeling overwhelmed still. However, the almost nap I'd just taken made it easier to think, and I no longer felt the panic I'd struggled with earlier.

"I don't," I stopped, realizing that my statement would have been awkward. "It's been a really long time since I've talked to anyone."

"A long time?" she questioned. I nodded, trying to figure out how many years had passed since the Mistake.

"Years. I guess I talked, but no one was ever there to answer." Riley stared at me with a faint look of disbelief tinged with sympathy.

"Not a great life, I guess?" She asked softly. I shook my head. "Yeah, me either. I guess there are a lot of people with rough lives though, right?"

"Yeah," I echoed. I imagined my mother's glare- the closest memory I had to the Mistake, which remained a fog that my mind wouldn't allow me to enter. "What do you write in there?" I pointed to the notebook on her lap, and her lips lifted into a smile. She shrugged her shoulders, and her big hoodie rose up with the action. I waited for an answer, but she didn't seem to actually want to tell me what she wrote in the notebook. A diary of some sort, I figured. "What does it mean?" I asked after a moment.

"What does what mean?"

"Poseidon." I watched as Riley snickered, but she didn't do it in a mean way. Just amused, though I wasn't sure if I was the joke.

"Poseidon's a god. The god of water, actually, and our dad. The gods can turn into humans and come to earth, and, well, we're born. I'm off to sleep now, though. See you in the morning, kid. Get some sleep so you'll be ready for morning."

"Yeah." I searched my brain for the words. "Good night," I said at last. I swung my legs back into bed and closed my eyes. Riley left the cabin light on, maybe waiting for Ness to come back. I didn't mind though, the light was strangely comforting, and with all the oddness going around outside I didn't mind being comforted in some way.

I worried vaguely about my mother. Would she be worried? Had she noticed that I was gone? Probably she'd be relieved. She could restart her own life now, visit friends and invite people for dinner. She wouldn't ever have to think back to the Mistake, and she'd never have to remember it. It was good that I'd gone. I was better here, and I knew she'd be better there.

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Poseidon. God of water. I shivered at the memory of my fall, and jerked upright with the sensation of hitting the water. I'd been dreaming. The light in the cabin had been turned off, but I couldn't tell if Ness was back or not. I could barely make out Riley's form lying on the bed, but I could clearly hear her breath rise and fall as she slept.

Water. A strange sensation came over me, and for a moment it was as if I could feel my blood moving through my body. I closed my eyes again and concentrated on the feeling, and became aware of all the water in my body. Outside of the cabin I could hear the lakes waves rolling against the sand and I felt acutely aware of its presence.

I felt overjoyed at the feeling, though it terrified me at the same time. Something lingered at the back of my mind. A memory of some sort, or a thought. The Mistake appeared in all it's blankness, and in order to avoid pain I cleared my head and let my body drift off into sleep once more.

It sure was great to talk with Abrin again. The deaf son of Demeter was kind and sweet, very much like a brother. As they signed back and forth, Harlow's bright sea green eyes sparked happily, smiling at her friend. Then she caught sight of Rand with a guitar and her cheeks flushed a soft pink, immediately moving away, to casually look up at the stars.

What she saw made her scream in terror. The moon had turned a bloody red and she was freaking out, clutching Abrin's arm and signing. We have to get everyone out of here!

As Abin tried to get her to calm down, the moon suddenly changed back to its wintery white, and Harlow did a double take, falling back into Abrin's strong arms. She stared up in shock at the moon, literally speechless, then slowly sat up and rubbed her tired eyes. What was that? A trick of the light? Her wild imagination?

Never mind, she decided. Get something to drink and focus. Standing up and signing to Abrin, saying she'll see him around, she gets up and runs into Rand, who gave her one of his melting smiles, making her sigh dreamily internally.

"Hey." She mumbles shyly.

"Hey." He says back, his bright blue eyes focused on her face. He moves a bit closer, perhaps to say something, when they are interrupted by Alex and, ugh, Abri!

Harlow's eyes flash angrily when she catches sight of the snobby Aphrodite daughter, and she sets her jaw.

"Hey Harlow, Rand!" Alex calls cheerfully.

"Alex! .. Abri " Rand's tone is happy at first, then turns cold as he greets Abri.

The girl flashes him a "sexy" smile and God knows what, starts to insult Harlow, who really wasn't listening then, she was glaring angrily at the perfect body of the girl and suddenly found herself hating her simple blonde curls, her make-up free face, her body hidden in a plain orange t-shirt and jeans. She would never win over someone as handsome as Rand, with all these girls after him.

Suddenly, a strong arm was around her waist, and Harlow found herself being held, held!, against Rand's side. Blushing fiercely, she tried to catch up on what she missed, and caught Abri charmspeaking Rand, telling him to grow a pair.

"Oh, buzz off, you insufferable little b-" Harlow started to explode, losing all self-control as her anger fizzed over, but was interrupted by a collective gasp. The moon was blood red again and as Harlow shrieked and clung close to Rand, she noticed Abri's expression cloud over, as if lost in her thoughts. What was going on with her..

Abri then left abruptly, and Rand was taking charge as usual, strong and dependable, a rock in times like these. Harlow watched as he ordered Alex and her to send everyone back to their cabins, and she nodded, then pivoted and parted ways.

"Everyone, back to your cabins! Now, stat, GO." She yelled loudly, yanking people apart so they could focus on her words.

"Pick up your cans and get to your cabin, Daemon." She ordered the drunken teenager, shooing him and his Monster smell away. With a disgusted sigh, she left, weaving through the crowd until she found Abrin. Helping her best friend up, she took his hand and led him through the crowd, back to his lone cabin.

"You okay?" She muttered softly to him.

Daemon : Dionysus : Monday night

Great. Now my clothes were soaked. Which was one of the most uncomfortable things to wear. Except maybe high-heels; I have no idea what they feel like, of course, but they look painful. But anyways, I sat at the fire for a while, trying to dry off, but of course it didn't help very much. Who thought of this stupid dare anyways? Whatever, I need another Monster.

When I walked over there, I noticed that the Hades girl had taken her previous position beside it. I took the last can out of the pack and turned to her. She was still wrapped up in Ben's towel, looking wet and miserable. Her dark hair hung wet and limp and her appearance looked even sadder then it had before, if that was even possible. But the look almost complimented her, like shadows of sadness were her adornments. I guess that's Hades for ya.

"Hey, sorry for taking you over the edge with me. I honestly didn't mean to." I said and then put my hand on the wall to steady myself as my vision became slightly dizzy, I really didn't want to replay that episode again, although that would be kind of comical. No it wouldn't, I scolded myself. I leaned my body against the wall, and then sat down, not wanting to take any chances.

The girl faintly raised the corner of her mouth in what might have been a forgiving smile, but other than that, didn't acknowledge my existence.

Realizing that I didn't even know her name, I took a swig of my Monster and said. "I'm Daemon." When she didn't reply I said, "What's your name?" A soft voice replied, but I couldn't make it out. "What?" I asked again.

She sighed and tried again. "Miranda." I nodded and took another drink. What was wrong with me? Again, I met another new person! What was it? Make a friend day? I think I've met more people in a couple of hours than I have in a normal month. See, this is what happens when you actually leave your cabin and go out into the real world, the voice in my head mocked.

Just then, I spotted three red gashes on her wrist and I frowned. I didn't like it when people hurt themselves, it made me upset. My big brother instinct came out and I took Miranda's hand. I gently placed my fingers on the cuts and looked her seriously in the face, I wondered what tragic story was written there. "Please don't ever do this again. You're worth so much more than that." She looked at the ground. I then kissed her cuts and walked back over to the fire.

That was probably awkward, but how was I supposed to know? I never interacted with actual human beings before. All I know was I couldn't stand her looking so full of pain and that she needed to know she was loved. I had a sister who cut herself once- I stopped suddenly and remembered that she was now dead. Like the rest of my family. Thanks to Dionysus. Angrily, I guzzled the entirety of my Monster in hopes that the energy drink would help me to 'drink my memories away'. It seemed to work because my blood was rushing crazily again and my thoughts became fuzzy, like normal.

All at once, a frizzy-haired girl appeared out of no where and yelled, "MY NAME IS ELLA POND, AND NOW THE PARTY HAS REALLY BEGUN!" Right after she made her big announcement, the sky turned red. I eyed my Monster. Geez, this stuff was really working tonight; things were going wacky! I thought at first, but then I noticed that everyone else was also looking at the sky and panicking and I realized that maybe this wasn't my mind cracking. Had the moon seriously just gone red?

I walked up to the girl. She was seriously gorgeous. The red light bounced off her curls and she had a seemingly perfectly shaped face. She wore really high heels that looked mega painful (remember what I was saying before?) but she seemed to work them with no problem. She had on a cute skirt and some suspenders with a blouse and bowtie, which would have looked ridiculous on anyone else, but some how she made it look hot.

"Did you just make the moon red?" I asked her. "Because if you did, that was the BEST party stunt I have ever seen and you would have to be the coolest person I have ever met."

"No, darling." She said as she smiled a smile at me that could have been used for a Colgate poster. "Honestly I have no idea what's going on." Suddenly, she started playing with my hair. "Oh, you do have such cute curls. Curls are the best," She gestured to her hair, "I guess great minds think alike!"

"Uh, yeah..." I raised my Monster to my lips only to find it empty. Remembering that it had been the last one, I suddenly felt exhausted, and this girl with the curls no longer interested me. "I'm...gonna hit the hay. I'll see ya later, I guess."

I shuffled through the other campers who were still freaking out about the blood-red moon. Whatever. Honestly I didn't give a d***. Let the god's worry about their own problems. Right now, it was time for me to sleep.

I was vaguely aware of someone telling me to go to my cabin, but I ignored her, I was already on my way.

I made the rest of my way to the cabin in a daze, if a harpie would have caught me, I probably would have been eaten without a fight. When I got there I fell right onto my messy bed and fell asleep. I was so tired I didn't even hear the faint meowing of new-born kittens in the corner.

Abrin : Demeter : Monday night

After the sky turned red, Rand, Alex and Harlow took charge and tried to make order of the nervous demigods. I could see them telling people to remain calm and having people make their way back to their cabin. The party feeling was over.

I started packing my things and trying to clean up a bit of the mess, there was junk everywhere. After a while, Harlow appeared at my elbow. Abrin, don't worry about that stuff, the harpies will take care of it, she signed with an amused expression on her face.

I smiled and dropped my garbage, you're probably right, although it's odd that they haven't made an appearance yet.

We linked arms and started I started ascorting my 'sister' back to the cabins. Hey, you ok? she asked suddenly.

I gave her a small smile. You know me, I'm always ok. Just then, I felt a deep rumbling and I looked over to see a gigantic wave charging for us. There was a boy in the water facing it, was that Ness? I stood his ground as the wall of water aproached and just before it hit him, he raised his arms and seemed to be straining to hold it back. He managed to lessen the impact but there was simply too much and the wave crashed over him. Mist from the wave sprayed us harshly as Harlow and I rushed to the beach to make sure he was ok.

He was a Poseidon kid, of course he was ok. He emerged without a drop of water on him, but looked worried.

"Hey, Ness, why don't you head to your cabin, ok? We're calling it a night," I saw Harlow say.

"But the moon...tidal waves...stay...safe..." Was all I could see him say. The fact that he kept turning made it hard to lip read, and it was getting darker and harder to see.

"Acording to my calculations, the waves will be big, but they won't flood the camp tonight, they can't reach that far yet. So why don't you get some sleep, we'll discuss it with Chiron tomorrow." Harlow assured him.

This is why it's handy having a daughter of Athena as a best friend. I signed. She smiled, and then something caught her eye and I turned to see a girl standing in the shadows at the mouth of the cave. Harlow started toward her but I put out my hand. I've got this. You and Ness head back to the cabins. I'll see you tomorrow. She nodded and headed off with Ness, I turned and walked toward the girl.

If I can remember correctly, it was Miranda, daughter of Hades. She looked at me when I approched and I smiled. We were silent for a while as I studied her. She looked so frail, and worried, probably about the moon. The silence didn't seem awkward with her, like she was used to it, like me. I guess we both spoke the same 'language'. Leaning against the wall, I sighed and looked up at the sky. Even though it was a problem, the red light gave the sky a new and interesting beauty, if you could call it that.
Finally I decided I should say something. Because there was no dirt to write on in the cave, I pulled out a notebook and wrote, Hey, I'm Abrin. I'm deaf so I have to use this to talk to you, but I can lip-read what you say. I wrote in greek and nudged her elbow to get her attention. I hoped she could read it in this dim red light. Are you doing ok? I asked, just honestly asking for her well being. I always wanted people to know that I was here for them, no matter what they needed to talk about.

She nodded and shrugged. After a while of more comfortable silence, I clicked open my pen and wrote some more. So, Miranda, what's your story?

Laila- Hermes
Monday night

With those words, Ben and Rand left to the archery field.
I sighed and went back and stood at the entrance of the cabin and looked up at the moon. The moon was restored back to its full white glory.
"What a night", I mumbled to myself.
It was ten and still no sign of my cabin mate. Where is she? We'd had to be in bed by eleven and she still hadn't come back.
I was pretty sure the party must have been dissolved by now. I looked around, there was nobody in sight. But I could hear voices ordering everyone to go and sleep.
The voices were getting near. I peeked and saw Harlow and somebody else giving the orders.
She came straight to where I was standing and barked, "Go to bed NOW!"
I was startled but nodded and went in.
A few minutes later, I peeked out to make sure nobody was out and left the cabin to search for my half sister.
I had no idea how she looked but I assumed she must be only one up, so it shouldn't be hard.
I had no idea where to look for her. I just walked aimlessly searching for any signs where she might be. At this point I was very worried.
I walked a little more and stopped. I heard voices somewhere to my right. I followed it and came to a halt.
I walked a little bit more and stopped within hearing distance. It must be a meeting because I was pretty sure I heard more than two voices.
It seemed like the meeting or whatever was going on was private. I shouldn't be eavesdropping but I suspected my half sister must be there.
"What, were you born to do Gem?" I heard someone say.

"I was born to murder the gods, murder Zeus, and take his place on Olympus as the next Goddess of Lightning and Sky."another voice said

"I was born with the Gift to kill Dia Immortals" , the same voice said.

There was a long pause and I thought the meeting was over but then the voice continued:

"There are twelve of us, each destined to murder our parent and take there thrones, and become the next God or Goddess of whatever. For five years I've been searching out the other eleven who would stand with me against the gods, I have only found six of them. I came back to Camp Half Blood because there is another here, I can feel the aura they give off, it's powerful, but I have discovered a second here, somewhere, I don't know where though."

I gasped and backed away quietly. Someone was plotting to kill the Gods!
I ran all the way back to my cabin. I'd found my way somehow. I tried to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come. Not after what I'd heard.
Someone was plotting to kill the Gods. Someone named 'Gem'. I guessed that was a nickname.
Who would want to do that? I had to tell someone. But who would believe me?
I was scared.
Somewhere in the middle of the night, I thought i heard someone coming in, but sleep pulled me in and just like that, I was fast asleep.

Ben Richard-Son of Apollo- Monday Night

I laid there in my bed, exhausted. It had been the longest day of my life. I smiled fondly at the memories of my day as I let the cool silky darkness of sleep slowly blanket me. Out of the darkness of my dreamless sleep, the video projector in my mind sluggishly flickered to life. Slowly, images started flashing through my brain in quick succesion until they were one moving image, the memory of Artemis.

I watched as my breath escaped my thick grey winter hood like fumes infront of me. The cold mountain air bit into my skin like knives. I was walking through the giant ranges of the Cascade Mountains, in search of the monster Empousa. She had stolen my necklace after I had met her in human form and I had- well *cough* that parts not important. Lets just say it's lucky my shyness didn't let me get too close to her.

The only thing that helped keep me consistently warm was the heat of my annoyance towards Empousa that circulated around the inside of my insulated jacket. Man she was annoying, even in human form. Trust me.

I groaned as I saw more flakes of frozen water rain down from up above. "Come on Boreas, give me a break just this once,"

My answer came as the occasional fleck turned into a white blizzard of ice and mind numbing cold. "I can't catch a break this week, can I?"

I continued to trudge forward through the torent of white flakes, each one piercing the inside of my hood. Water now dripping down my face as I let myself heat up, I was starting to get really pissed.

I gasped as my foot caught on a tree root and fell hands first into the deep white snow. But as I looked up, my wavy brown hair now dripping from a mixture of sweat and melted ice, I noticed a shadowy speck in the distance. Empousa?

No. Oh gods.

I watched as one black fleck turned into two, three... twenty. They were far off in the distance but I wasn't about to stick around to find out. I needed to find that goat brat, and fast.

I watched as the cold mountain sun dropped down through the horizon until bright day turned dark night. I had spent the entire day searching for Empousa with no luck. My frustration showed as I set up camp under the protection of a giant old Douglas Fir. Even the dampest of branches crackled to life as I let my frustration and anger vent in the form of the small orange flames leaking from my fingertips like small matches. I sat on a damp log next to glowing fire, I had dug a wide space around the fire so any melting snow near it wouldn't cause it to die out.

I sat there, playing a harmonica with little luck. The cold air had caused not only my lips to go numb and virtually unusable but it had also caused the metal instrument to compress and the pitch to go dangerously sharp. I sighed and put down the little wind instrument. I didn't like the cold, or the mountains for that matter. They both seemed to cause me to use my power more than I should and rendered me musically cripple.

I could soon feel a cold calmness drift over me though and I noticed the fire had gone out. But I was too sleepy to go and light it, I yawned. Had this log always felt like a pillow? I watched in ignorant bliss as darkness started to consume my sight.

"Help!" I bolted off my log as the shrill voice cut through the darkness like a lantern. It had come from near bye. I grabbed my backpack and ran towards the source, the screams growing louder as I approached.

I stopped at the edge of a small snow bank and looked down. I grinned as I saw the goat legged form of Empousa, she was even wearing my necklace. Though why she wanted it in the first place was a mystery to me. But my grin was soon wiped off my face as I noticed a girl, my age. She was on the snowy ground, a bear trap caught on her left ankle, but any trace of white snow around her was now dyed a sickening maroon as she quickly bled.

Her long black hair whipped around as she tried tried jerking her body free of the trap. Empousa just stood there, waiting until she died. My stomach knotted in disgust, it was like the monster enjoyed watching her die. I wonder if Empousa drank girls blood too?

I needed to get close to the monster and the girl without Empousa noticing me. I quietly tugged my bow out from the straps on my backpack as I slowly slid down the tiny snow mound. I tried to stagger my breathing as I hid behind one of the many Evergreen trees that lined the mountains. I held my breath as I reached up and extracted an arrow from a pocket on my backpack.

My heart beat erratically against my chest in an unmusical pattern. I didn't like being nervous. But I also grinned from the adrenaline pumping through my body. My hunt was over. But my cover was blown as the girl noticed me come up from behind the monster. She stared at me with a mixture of shock, excitement, relief and for some reason the look one would give an exotic animal.

Empousa instinctively followed her gaze and growled when it met me. "Hey sweetie, are we still on for movies tonight?" It mimicked itself while it was in human form. Don't look at me like that, I swear she was hot when I didn't know she was a half goat vampire.

I just stared at it. "I don't know what your talking about," yes I did, I just didn't want to admit it infront of the girl I was trying to rescue.

"Well if you kill me," Empousa smiled. "You kill her," she held a small black knife up to the girls snowy white throat.

We were in a deadlock, Empousa's long blond hair and attractive face now looked ugly to me as I looked at who she really was. Well that and she was half goat. And probably six thousand plus years old. Don't get me wrong though, I like older girls, just not when they are an old hag of a monster.

I watched her with my piercing blue eyes and was deciding whether or not I should risk it, if I somehow was quick enough to shoot Empousa in the wrist and then the throat, I might be able to save the girl before she bled to death. But my mind was cut short as I watched a silver arrow fly through the air, I could feel the air shift around it as it quickly scraped past my cheek, leaving a small cut.

Empousa screamed in shock as she quickly disintegrated into dust, the arrow had buried itself deep in her heart, you know, if half goat vampires had hearts. I quickly dashed over to where the girl was sitting, and using all of my one hundred twenty five pounds of brute strength and twig like arms, I somehow pried open the bear trap.

She looked like she was in too much pain to say anything and the bleeding wasn't slowing down, I needed to act fast. I quickly took a roll of gauze from my back pack and placed it beside her. I looked down at the wound and I knew it wasn't going to close anytime soon, even if I wrapped it up. So I took a risk and doing something I had never done before, I cauterized the wound with my finger. I'm not going to tell you the gruesome details like what burning flesh smells like or what burning closed a wound looks like. But I will tell you this, I'm never doing that again unless I have to.

After the wound had been closed, I wrapped it up and reluctantly took my bow. I needed to use something to act as a splint for her leg and the bow was the only wooden thing that seemed to form well to her leg. With a heavy sigh I snapped the bow string off and cracked it in two over my leg. I then wrapped it around the back of her leg with more gauze and helped her up, she leaned on me as I wrapped my arm around her shoulder.

But as I turned around, I saw twenty fierce looking bows trained on me. And at the head was a girl who looked not much older than me, but she seemed like she had lived forever.

"Who are you?" she barked at me. "Why have you dared touch one of my huntresses?"

I looked at the girl and she smiled weakly at me. "I'm Ben, and I saved her because I couldn't let anyone die infront of my eyes again without me doing something about it." My memory of Toby's death suddenly flicked through my mind, but it came as fast as it left.

"Don't make excuses, demigod. The penalty for defiling a hunter is death."

Wait, what, defiling? I didn't like where this was going. I instantly sighed with relief as the girl with her arm around my shoulder explained to them how I had swooped in and saved her from the monster. I'm going to leave out any parts where she referred to me as a strange exotic form of woman, clearly this girl had never met a man before me. And trust me I'm all man, all one hundred twenty five pounds.

After the girls speech, the leader of the hunting squad ordered them to put down their weapons and she came up to me, I could almost feel the power radiate off her as she slowly made her way over, illuminated only by the moon.

She looked at me with intense silver eyes and after a few awkward moments that felt like she was probing my every thought with her eyes, she spoke. "You have saved one of my huntresses from death itself. You not only did that but you broke your only weapon to help heal her, a bow is a sacred thing. But so is a life and more importantly, a friend. You have made one of her and so you have made one me and the rest of the huntresses. I am Artemis, goddess of the hunt, moon and anything else that bears my title and you are forever in my favor, Ben, son of my twin Apollo."

She spoke like every word was a declaration to the heavens, each one crisp and proper.

I spent the rest of that week hunting with Artemis and her huntresses. By the way they were acting though, it was like I was the first guy they had every seen. It seriously creeped me out. I learned fighting skills from Artemis herself and I got my butt kicked by the youngest girl there who was nine, I was fourteen at the time and had a one and a half foot advantage. But by the end of that week I was able to hold my own against the girl and once even won. I was crushed when I learned that she was blind.

I stood at the edge of the highway next to the base of the mountain, Artemis stood with me. The huntresses had not accompanied us and I was almost glad. It got creepy having twenty pairs of eyes look at you like you were a new puppy they just wanted to play with. We looked at each other and said our goodbyes, nothing emotional but filled behind the words laid deep respect.

"Goodbye, Artemis, I will never forget my time spent with you and the huntresses."

"I would tell you the same, but I'm glad your leaving us," she said, but quickly followed when she looked at my crestfallen face. "It looked like some of the huntresses were going to break out in a fight over who got to bring you food. Some of them have gone years without seeing a boy and then one week with you around and they suddenly revert back to their old, boy crazed ways. They still have much to learn about hating men."

"Well, we can't all be like me," I joked and turned towards Artemis, but when I did, all that left was my necklace in a pile of snow and a note that read;

Ben, us huntresses are forever in your debt and I thank you personally for saving my life. If you need assistance with anything, we will be there to fight by your side, so that I may one day be able to repay my debt to you,
Love, Reba.

Marxus - Hephaestus
Monday Night

I yawned and decided that it was time to head off to bed. This -- whatever it is -- I had been working on was going nowhere. That just meant I had to get up early to finish it the next morning.

I was so tired that I didn't think I could take another step. Luckily the Hephaestus cabin had it's own workshop so I didn't have to walk very far. I collapsed the second I reached the bed.

There were noises just outside the window. My bed was directly underneath it, so I propped myself up on my elbows and stared outside. A bunch of campers were walking the paths, talking in loud voices. I was confused, wondering why so many of them were out of bed, but then I groaned and laid back down.

Tonight was the newbie party. I had never been; not even when I was a newbie. Maybe I should have gone that night. Then I could've at least attempted to make a friend. Sure I talked to people all the time, but when all I can think about is my next invention, it was hard to focus on being nice and all that.

Tomorrow; tomorrow I would make a friend. A real friend. You know, the kind of person you could talk to about anything. And then Camp Half-Blood would truly feel like home and not just some camp that I went to to get away from my mom.

I just hoped there was someone out there who would want to be associated with me.

Lexi - Ares
Monday Night

I walked back to the cabin, my head spinning from the conversation I had just had with Gemini. Sure it was cool that she was back and everything, but this whole killing the gods idea? Kind of crazy. And I would know crazy.

I threw my head back and looked up at the moon. It had returned to its normal shade. But the image of it blood red in the sky is still burned into my mind. That and how Gemini stuck a sword to my neck. I chuckled to myself. She thought that she could sneak up on me like that. I am a child of Ares. People don't sneak up on me.

As I entered my cabin, I thought about Gemini being back and what that meant for me and Abri. Sure, Abri and I don't really get along much anymore, but will we be able to reunite for the sake of Gemini? Will everything go back to how it was before?

Hold on a second, why was I thinking about this? I had to stop. I don't care about relationships or people being friendly and all that. I was there for the party. And the party consisted of training with weapons, killing monsters, and climbing flaming rock walls.

So I needed to buck up and get over it. Nothing was going to change; camp would stay the same.

But even as I tried to fall asleep, I couldn't help but think about Gemini.

Sometime that night, Alex had come back. I pretended to be asleep and he fell for it. But as soon as I heard his breathing even out, I knew he was asleep. So I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. Nothing was going my way. I didn't even get to prank any newbies at the party tonight! How was I supposed to keep up my reputation?

Finally, sleep began to take over and my eyes closed slowly. Before I fell asleep for good, I promised myself something: that I wouldn't let Gemini take over the camp. Think about it; she's obviously a great fighter and a strong demi-god. But I have worked hard to establish myself as the tough girl. Abri can believe she's the tough girl all she wants, but she'll always be wrong.

I smirked in the darkness, knowing that no one would see it. But I didn't care. Tomorrow I would be able to get back out there and train, become and even better fighter than I was today. And no one was going to stand in my way.

Miria Oak ~ Hermes

"Now, your going to tell me who you are, and what you can do, so get snappy with it." I wince and Gemini's nails dig into my shoulder. She pushes me ahead of her into the woods and pinned me to a tree, one hand resting on my chest. "Spill it."
"What? What did I do?" I growl. I had been minding my own business, heading back to my cabin after collecting all my arrows from the trees I had shot, when I heard a conversation. Blending into the shadows, I had listened carefully, trusting my camouflage skills to keep me hidden. What I had heard shocked me. I had decided to teleport from there immediately when Gem caught me. I suppose when I summoned the energy to teleport, Gem was able to pick up the signals. That wasn't supposed to happen. Gem shakes my shoulders again, pulling me from my reminiscing.
"Just talk, I don't want any accidents the first day of camp."
Fine, I think to myself, You want to know about me, here we go. I speak as fast as my mouth can go: "Miria, Sixteen, Hermes, Newbie, Angry, Wanna be Alone, Let me go!"
Gem gives me a ghost of a smile. "Very funny. Now give me the full story."
"What if I say no?" I ask daringly, in the back of my mind summoning energy to teleport.
Gem pulls out a knife. "Like I said, no accidents, please. Do me a favor." She gives me a sly grin.
"Fine," I say, still missing some energy to teleport. "I'm Miria Oak. Arrived yesterday. Shall we get off to a better start?" I offer her my hand, she slaps it away. Almost enough energy! "Fine," I smile. "You don't want to shake hands. You just lost yourself a perfect friend." I give her a mocking smile. Gem puts the knife next to my neck.
"Enough funny business, tell me what you can do. I know you can do something. I can feel it," she spits out with teeth clenched tight. I sigh and raise my eyebrows. Enough power!
"Okay, here it is." Just then I disappear from in front of Gem and appear safely in my bunk without my cabinmate noticing. I congratulate myself on my successful teleportation.

Ella Pond

"Hi."

"Hello."

"So."

"Yes?"

"You're a horse."

This is greatly amusing to the centaur (that is what Lyson had called him, right?), who puts his hand out for me to shake. I take it, ignoring all the sirens in my head screaming this is so weird!

"I've been told. I'm rather used to it. Being half-horse is full of advantages." He turns to Lyson, who looks exhausted after dragging me from the cliff to the great lodge. "Is she claimed?"

The horse-man looks tired too, but his is the faux cheerful tired of someone who is forced to greet in ture situations. I almost feel bad for my indignance, but I don't. "My name is Ella. I'd appreciate not being called 'she'."

The horse-man looks back at me, looking me up and down and making a squinty face at my bowtie. "Mortal Father?"

Lyson looks very happy to be speaking again, puffing up his scrawny chest to exhibit his goat-ly skills. "Yes. She hasn't offically been claimed, but the goddess always makes it hard on us. I'm almost certain its her ladyship. Ella, do you have the note?"

Glad to be of service, I pull the note out of my pocket, placing it gingerly in the horse-mans outstretched hand. "So, what are you going to do with me?"

The horse-man (is this the 'Chiron' Lyson was talking about earlier?) reads the note quickly, handing it back to me. "The goddess doesn't need to claim this one. She's already made it rather obvious. You can take her to her cabin, and get some rest."

Lyson turns me away from Chiron and Chiron's brilliant beard, muttering a 'thank you' as we walk out. He's on a mad march now, my escort, but I grab him by the shirt.

"You never answered me."

"To your sister's cabin." He says, pulling away from me. "And, I guess, your brother's too, but there aren't a lot of those where you come from."

I have siblings? The weight of the situaton suddenly begns pressing down on me. My voice cracks when I talk again. "I'm done joking, Lyson. Where am I?"

Lyson doesn't even turn around, just stops in front of a cabin. It smells heavily of perfume and flowers, highlighted with pink wherever I look. "A camp for the children of the Greek Gods. This is your mother's cabin."

I feel so close to a mystery that had never previously been touched. I know my twelve major gods enough so that I would recongnize my mother's name. I could know her name, and that matters more than the fact that I'm in a totally mythical situation. "Who is she?"

The note in my pocket feel warm with the truth. I picture the bubbly script across it. Hello, Sweetie.

"Aphrodite, Goddess of love. Now, let me get some sleep."

Lyson pushes me foward before I have the chance to respond, and I tumble through the door to find myself the subject of several sets of mascared eyes.

I straighten myself up, Lyson's words sending echoes through my head. This has been such a weird day. I firmly set myself in a fantasy world, one where it doesn't matter if things make sense or not. "Hi. I guess I'm the new girl."

One of the girls stands up from her bed, and I have to admit- she's just as pretty as myself. In fact, everyone in the room is. I can't remember what Aphrodite is the Goddess of, besides love, but beauty is starting to look like a sensible guess. That explains a lot, I suppose. Her lips curl into a smile, but its about as friendly as a week-old batch of fish sticks. "I'm Abri Moreau." She says her last name like its fancy and French, and therefore like the best thing in the world.

"I'm Ella Pond." I say my last name like its British, which would make it the best thing in the world, if it... y'know, was. "I guess you're my sister. Never had one of those before."

Abri looks my body up and down like she's trying to make sure I'm really a daughter of Aphrodite. "Well, now you do." She smiles a bright, Colgate smile that I thought was mine. This smile, unlike the last one, is completely genuine. "Put your stuff awat. Lights out is soon, and even we don't get an exception. Take whatever empty bunk bed you'd like. You are going to love it here."

"I certainly hope so, darling. I certainly hope so."

Abrin : Demeter : Monday night

So, Miranda, what's your story? I wrote down.

Her lips parted and she looked like she was about to speak, but suddenly her eyes grew big as she looked at something over my shoulder. I quickly turned around and spotted three shriveled figures hobling toward us. Look who finally decided to show up, I thought to myself. Harpies; if a deamon and a hag got married, I suppose this is what their offspring would look like.

Scanning the area, I saw two more circling above. I didn't even have my sword with me. I always found it ironic that we were brought to camp to be safe from monsters and yet they threatened us with being eaten by harpies if we disobeyed the rules. I didn't know much about disaplining children, but this seemed a bit over the top.

I scribled a word down in big letters that filled the whole page and put it infront of Miranda's face. RUN!. We ducked as one of the harpies swooped down on us. I grabbed Miranda's hand and we sprinted across the beach toward our cabins.

Despite their skinny limbs and saggy features, harpies can run surprisingly fast. Thankfully only two were chasing us -I guess the rest had stayed behind to clean up the party mess- but they were hot on our tails.

As we ran, I pulled a vine seed out of my pocket and threw it over my shoulder. As soon as it hit the earth, it exploded into half a dozen green arms that wound their way around the harpie, immobilizing her but not hurting her.

I got another one ready, but the bird-hag was practically right on top of us. Miranda spun around and pulled out a pair of wicked-looking daggers. She gave a couple warning jabs at the harpie and it slowed her flight and backed off. "Go. Sleep. Cabins now. You must sleep! Go!" I saw it screech.

I nodded, raised my hands and backed off. Miranda hesitated, but sheathed her daggers and followed my lead. After watching us make the rest of our way the to cabins, the harpie finally flew off.

Right before we parted ways, I wrote down something, tore the page off and handed it to her, then I waved good bye and went inside my cabin. It had said, If you ever need to talk to somebody, you can always count on me as a friend.

After brushing my teeth and getting on my pajamas, I watered the plants in the cabin and went to bed. In no time at all, I was asleep.