SILENCE AND NERVOUS LOOKS FOLLOWED. Chiron struggled to maintain his smile. "Now, I know this is unusual but gods do become mortal from time to time. You should not be overly alarmed. Apollo’s presence among us could be a good omen, a chance for us to…" He seemed to lose track of his argument. "Ah… do something good. I’m sure the best course of action will become clear in time. For now, please make Apollo feel at home. Treat him as you would any other new camper"

At the Hermes table, Connor Stoll raised his hand. "Does that mean the Ares cabin should stick Apollo’s head in a toilet?" He asked. At the Ares table, Sherman Yang snorted. "We don’t do that to everyone, Connor. Just the newbies who deserve it" As somebody who almost got their head stuck in a toilet on the first day, Cassidy disagreed but didn't bring it up.

"Thank you, Sherman" Chiron continued. "It’s good to know you won’t be giving the god of archery a swirly. As for the rest of you, we will keep you posted on our guest’s situation. I’m sending two of our finest satyrs, Millard and Herbert-" he gestured to the satyrs on his left "to hand-deliver a message to Rachel Dare in New York. With any luck, she will be able to join us soon and help determine how we can best assist Apollo"

There were some grumbles about this. Cassidy included. They didn't have anything against Rachel personally, they liked the Oracle. They just didn't like her prophecies. Though that might not be a problem considering her power of prophecy wasn't working anymore "Finally" Chiron said "We welcome a new demigod to camp, Meg McCaffrey!" She wiped her mouth and stood. Next to her, Alice Miyazawa said, "Stand up, Meg" Julia Feingold laughed. At the Ares table, Sherman rose. "Now this one, this one deserves a special welcome. What do you think, Connor?" Cassidy let out an exasperated sigh, ofcourse Sherman would try to retaliate after Meg bruised his ego. They should have warned her earlier.

Connor reached into his backpack. "I think maybe the canoe lake" Apollo started to speak "Meg-" Cassidy reached for their daggers though they didn't plan on using them unless necessary. Fluffy padded up to her "Help her?" He asked. "Help her" Cassidy confirmed. Then all Hades broke loose. Sherman Yang strode toward Meg. Connor Stoll pulled out a golden net and threw it over her head. Meg yelped and tried to squirm free, while some of the campers chanted, "Dunk her! Dunk her!" Chiron did his best to shout them down "Now, demigods, wait a moment!"

Fluffy snarled and leaped towards them, knocking over Sherman. A guttural howl sounded next and from the top of the colonnade, a blur of chubby flesh, leafy wings, and linen diaper hurtled downward and landed on Connor Stoll, locked his plump legs around the demigod’s neck, and began pulling out Connor’s hair with his claws.

"Get it off!" Connor wailed, thrashing blindly around the pavilion. "Get it off!" Cassidy shook off their shock, they recognized it as a Karpos though a different variety to the ones they'd seen. The other demigods overcame their shock as well. Several drew swords. "C’è un karpos!" yelled Chiara Benvenuti

"Kill it!" Alice Miyazawa called. Cassidy aimed her dagger at the Karpos. Fluffy leaped off Sherman and tackled the Karpos who fought back fiercely. Not wanting to risk hurting Fluffy, projectiles remained aimed but did not fire. "Peaches, no! Fluffy!" Meg screamed, untangling herself from the net. The Karpos hesitated, allowing Fluffy to get the upper hand. "Fluffy, stop!" Cassidy ordered. They didn't know how but Meg obviously knew the Karpos. The leopard paused mid strike, giving the Karpos a look of distaste before moving away from it.

The Karpos got up and stood by Meg’s feet, baring his fangs and hissing at the other campers who had formed a loose semicircle with weapons drawn. Fluffy was at the head of it, growling at the Karpos. Watching Meg's reaction, Cassidy was more hesitant. "Meg, get out of the way, that thing is dangerous" Nico warned. "No! Don't kill him!" Meg cried. Connor got up, blood streamed down from a gash on his forehead. The sight prompted Kayla to draw her bow. Julia Feingold unsheathed a dagger.

Julia charged. Kayla shot her arrow.
Meg thrust out her hands and faint gold light flashed between her fingers.
Suddenly she was holding two swords, each a curved blade. Both her blades whirled. Meg simultaneously sliced Kayla’s arrow out of the air and disarmed Julia, sending her dagger skittering across the floor. "What the Hades?" Connor demanded. "Who is this kid?" Peaches crouched at Meg’s side, snarling.

"Stand down" Cassidy ordered, they didn't know what to make of the Karpos though it didn't seem to be a danger to Meg. "Look" Apollo said suddenly. Cassidy frowned, they couldn't see anything. The others seemed confused as well. Then the glow became brighter. A holographic golden sickle with a few sheaves of wheat, rotating just above Meg McCaffrey.

"She’s a communist!" Damien White gasped. Billie Ng gave him a disgusted sneer. "No, Damien, that’s my mom’s symbol" Her face went slack as the truth sank in. "Uh, which means… it’s her mom's symbol"

"My friend is no longer unclaimed" Apollo announced. All around demigods began kneeling in respect, some more reluctantly than others. Even Fluffy followed suit. "Ladies and gentlemen" Apollo's voice sounded strangely bitter "Please give it up for Meg McCaffrey, daughter of Demeter"

Cassidy didn't know what to make of the girl anymore. They doubted anybody did. They'd spent enough time with the Romans on the Argo to recognize imperial gold but Meg was obviously Greek, not Roman. Or maybe she was and she'd found the wrong camp by accident. However, that still didn't explain the gold blades and the skill with which she used them.

She was unusually powerful too, most children of Demeter that Cassidy had met could do little more than make crops grow and keep bacterial fungi at bay. Things like summoning Karpoi... It must have been a very rare skill, similar to Leo's control over fire, because they'd never seen it done before. Questions crowded their mind as Chiron dispersed the crowd, urging everyone to put away their weapons.

Since head counselor Miranda Gardiner was missing, Chiron asked Billie Ng, the only other camper from Demeter, to escort Meg to Cabin Four. The two girls made a quick retreat, Peaches bouncing along excitedly behind them. Cassidy couldn't help the suspicion that there was more to Meg than they had initially suspected.

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[Edited: Yes]

[Author's note: This was supposed to be longer, I'll probably double update today]
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