"Alright, we'll leave you to it."

An undyingly kind couple already had the bathroom ready for me by the time we got there. I wanted to ask Connie if she had a phone for music, but I also couldn't bear to speak to her.

I have a habit of showering in water as scalding hot as the hellscape of Tartarus. It's my greatest creature comfort. Boiling water hits my skin and I feel like maybe everything's going to be okay. There's shampoo and conditioner too, the good kind with a trillion essential oils.

Kuné is chewing on a dog bone outside of the shower waiting for me to finish, but I'm gonna be in here a while, I need time to think.

They sent a Search and Rescue team! For me, the kid from the Aphrodite cabin that everyone hated so much I had to get my own personal cabin. Part of me wants to feel triumphant, but a nagging thought makes me sad.

I can't fit in with these people.

On the way here they bantered and laughed and fake argued and I just sat in the back, far too cramped and too awkward to say anything. I realized too late that I have no social skills, I've been human interaction starved for so long I can barely open my mouth. Every time I do it's to say something stupid. I feel annoying and anxious about it.

What was I thinking? I'm not gonna fit in at Camp Jupiter, either. Even if they are more welcoming, a loser is a loser universally, and I'm a loser, baby.

The irony makes me laugh a little. I'm born to be misplaced, apparently.

Showering is making me want to cry now, so I turn off the knob and use two towels to dry off my gigantic, clumsy body and slip on my new pants and new shirt. I actually look pretty good in purple, and my hair looks like the shine and luster is back. It's one of the few things I have left from my father, so I take good care of it. I haven't cut it since he died. I wish I had a hair masque and leave in conditioner, but I can imagine that people don't usually bring those along on quests.

Kuné grunts at me and paws at my foot so I pick them up to show them themself in the mirror like a proud but depressed parent. "Look! It's you!"

Their cute tail starts wagging ferociously and they let out a low, long grunt that makes me think they don't love what they see. It's adorable so I bring them to my chest and bounce a bit to relax them. "Come on, it's you! You're a handsome piggy, and beautiful! I love your cow spots." I kiss over their head and it soothes me the slightest bit.

Even if I don't fit in, I'll always have Kuné. I said one friend would be enough, and Kuné is enough for me. I thank my mother again, unsure if she'll hear me but confident it's the right thing to do. I'll be thanking her every time they lift my spirits.

After a bit of cuddling, I feel good enough that I can walk out into their upstairs and make my way down unnecessarily steep, wooden stairs. I definitely don't need to slip down another set, my back hurts still from slipping down the ones at the airport. At least Alex thought it was funny.

Kuné snorts and I do too. Maybe I can be the comic relief.

When I step out the crew is all sitting in the living room. The blonde girl runs up to me to hug me and I'm so startled I nearly drop my pig. "I hope you're feeling better! I'm Anna!"

I chuckle nervously and glance around. They're all giving me a protective look so I hug her back. "Thank you, Anna. I am feeling a tiny bit better."

She pulls back and giggles, and it's the sweetest sound I've heard today. "That's good, we can work on it."

Kuné wiggles towards her and she throws puppy dog eyes my way that I cannot resist so I hand them over and she sits where she's standing to cuddle them. "What a cute piggy!"

Connie stands and stares at the space above my head. "Introductions. My name is Connie, and I've been Unclaimed so we don't really know who I'm the daughter of anymore. Initially I was claimed by Juno."

She sticks out her hand and I shake it. Her handshake is firm and confident, yet she can't seem to make eye contact. "It's nice to meet you. Are you okay?"

The rest start giggling as her face turns red and she drifts her eyes to mine. "I'm fine. Just shy."

"No she's not!" Alex protests to a glare from her. "What? I'm not gonna say anything!"

Connie stomps over and grabs his ear to tug him up to me. It makes me giggle a little, I can't tell if she's the mom friend or the leader of the group. Regardless, Alex lets her drag him over.

He dusts off his ear like she has a deadly disease. "Touching gay asexuals is a crime if you're a girl," He grumbles. "I'm Alex, son of Bacchus. We initially thought I was a son of Athena, but nope!"

I'm starting to sense a pattern here that I can actually relate to. "They thought I was Aphrodites son, but I guess I'm actually Roman so I kind of get it."

Alex tips his head at me and grins. "Definitely a Roman. Connie, I totally see it now."

Hazel pats her head and stands to pull me into a hug that sends me internally flying into a queer panic. "I'm Hazel, I'm a rare breed of forbidden child and I'm a hugger!"

I swallow the panic and hug him back awkwardly. "Nice to meet you." It's barely a whisper but he doesn't notice, he pulls away and summons an axe with fresh blood on it.

"Mars, and a Hunter of Artemis." He unsummons it but my eyes lock on where it was.

I don't know how to put it delicately, so I drop them to the ground to stare at his shoes. They're red. Like blood. "Uhm... can't Hunters not have children after they join?"

He nodded animatedly. "Yeah, that's why when they found out they whacked her and my Dad got in trouble."

I frown. "I'm sorry."

He furrows his brows and motions for Adam. "This is Adam. He's a son of Discordia (long story) but also claimed by Pluto too (longer story) and our token goth boy."

Adam grunts his acknowledgment of me before looking up at Hazel. "Don't do that thing I hate."

Hazel picks him up and I swear I feel the ground shake for a second. So this guy is kind of like a quarter sibling to Nico Di Angelo, which makes more sense than it should. This guy radiates weird energy, it gives me the creepy crawlies and it's not even because he scares me a little. It's just the energy around him.

The British guy pulls up what I'm now going to assume is his girlfriend and introduces her first. "This fetching beauty is my Jasmin—,"

Jasmin drops her head in her hands but not before she can hide her smile. "Stop."

"She's the daughter of Trivia." He beams at her blushing and it makes me happy.

However she finally finds the acting skills to glare at him. "I can speak for myself."

"Nah, you were too busy trying to pretend you don't like me," Jacob countered before patting his chest. "My names Jacob, son of Mercury if that wasn't painfully obvious, but I've also been claimed as a son of Aries. We don't know how that happened." He smirks like he's in on a joke that I'm not, and I have to break the eye contact to blush. He's so boyishly handsome. "I'm half greek, half roman, all the best of both worlds."

I find enough time to speak between his rapid cantor and raise my hand. "How many of you guys have been unclaimed or something?"

Adam raises an eyebrow as he fiddles with one of the chains hanging off of his pants. "Well, after you became a thing at Camp Jupiter, the gods have been going nuts. Everyone's confused. They're just giving out free blessings and reclaimings like halloween candy."

Anna rolls her eyes playfully. "It's August. It's not Halloween yet."

He slides down the wall and pouts. "But it could be spooky season. You guys are just lame."

Hazel pinches his cheek and Adam gives him a stare so deadly I'm actually worried I'm about to be a witness to a crime. "Aw, you're so cute."

"Anyways!" Connie interrupts loudly. "Some of us are blessed or have tragic backstories. Do you have one?"

I sit where I'm standing and stare off into the distance as I try to think of anything to say but, "Probably just that everyone hates me for being a three quarter."

I let my eyes slip shut for a second as I mentally bully myself. That was literally the last thing I should have said, much less wanted to say. I get word vomit now apparently. This should be fun and not at all an embarrassing journey. I'm half expecting them to just leave me here, which is fair.

But Connie smiles. "A three quarter?"

"Yeah," I mumble shyly, pulling my braid over my shoulder to unravel the bottom so I have something to do. "Venus had me with a half mermaid, and then met my dad while she was pregnant and fell in love." I can sense someone's about to ask so I sigh. "He's dead now, but yeah. I guess that's more my tragic backstory."

Kuné must sense I'm sad because they wiggle out of Anna's arms to come and nuzzle their nose against my foot. I laugh and pick them up like a baby. "This is my pig, allegedly."

Jasmin raises an eyebrow. "Allegedly?"

"I found them at the airport," I tell her nervously. Should I keep this to myself? "It has my name on the collar, and they seem to like me."

Anna smiles warmly. "And here I was using the wrong pronouns!" She swayed in place and sighed. "I'm a daughter of Apollo, but I've also got a blessing from Laetita, goddess of joy and happiness."

That's concerning to me. I wonder if she's ever felt any other emotions. I feel like that's important: you've gotta know what sad feels like to know why happy feels so good, right? I don't say that. "It's nice to meet you guys. Did you come on purpose?"

Connie nods dubiously. "You think we came to the Midwest for fun?"

I chuckle. "Actually no, I really doubt it." I look over them all again, trying to figure out if this is real. "Is there a lake nearby?"

She points me toward a back door and as I stand with Kuné to leave, they all stand with me. I'm almost tempted to sit back down to see if they follow that too.

Yeesh. Maybe I'm becoming a smart ass. Or maybe I always was. I can't help but feel a little cynical about suddenly having a group of people to hang out with. Part of me recoils in disgust, these people were essentially forced. I can't take any comfort here, not with them.

I find a wooded area and push my way through brambles hanging high above the trail. The main problem is that my face is also high above the trail, so I'm honestly getting more twigs to the head than scenery.

I can hear the screaming of cicadas and animals chittering the deeper we go in. The footsteps of so many people scare most away, but I spot a deer in the distance. The urge to make friends with it is ridiculous, but after staring at it for a while, it darts away toward a weeping willow. I'm curious so I follow it, and sure enough the rushing of a lake meeting shore fills my ears.

Now I'm a man possessed. I feel like I know where I'm going, though I don't connect with lakes nearly as much as the ocean. Its smell is mustier, like a sweaty ocean if that makes sense. Plus, all the seaweed is significantly uglier than that of the ocean, let alone the lake foam that it conjures. The prettiest part of a lake is the middle where you can't see the rest of it in my opinion.

But water is water, so I sit on the sand and stare out at it. I want to look back, but the footsteps stopped just before I got out of the woods. Maybe they were supervising me to make sure I didn't run off. After all, apparently I'm a big deal or something.

A little anger boils to the surface of my mood as I look out over the white caps. What exactly was the point of coming to get me? The gods themselves said I should've just stayed at Camp Halfblood. They said I was unimportant, so why?

Sometimes I have quiet wishes of being a more interesting gods son. Like Apollo so I could heal and shoot arrows, or Hephaestus so I could build massive contraptions like Leo Valdez. Why make me the son of a love god when I don't even have the capacity to love myself?

I sigh, uncomfortable with so much rage inside of me. When I used to get frustrated as a kid, my dad would tell me to sing it out. Whatever song popped into my head first was what I sang.

Right now it's Milk Of The Siren. I'm a diehard Melanie Martinez fan, and her Portals album brings me to tears at random times. I relate to what the other Adam had said while he was driving me. Music is powerful, and Melanie Martinez makes incredibly powerful music.

So I sing her song, petting Kuné to the tempo. It's sort of an angry song, but truthfully towards the patriarchy, which I wholeheartedly agree with. If someone asked me to be in charge of something I would laugh myself into the Fields of Asphodel.

"Drink from the leche of sirens
Summon the sailors in town
Strangle the fear of deciding
Which one's deserving to drown," I can feel the music around me; it's in the air, it's in the trees, it's in the water. I feel nature surrounding me and it brings me a bit of peace. There's splashing in the water like a goose is landing or something, but I'm so lost in the moment that I don't bother to watch. I hope it's actually a couple of swans.
"Don't feel bad when these fuckers all drown
Let them drown
Let them drown
Let them dr–."

Kuné screams and my eyes shoot open, then I'm on my feet.

There's glowing underwater, and bubbles. I turn to see if the others are still standing there, but they aren't and a sinking feeling of dread fills me.

Like a complete idiot, I charge into the water.