vii. part i.

—SAVANNAH was slowly getting used to the mass amounts of weapons she was seeing. It didn't make her feel any less uneasy, but she was learning to not jump every time someone with a sword walked by her ( which happened to be every single person. Well, except for the campers that she assumed were Aphrodite's kids ).

"Wait, so what you're saying is, that's real lava?" She stood wide eyed, having already asked this question, but she needed to hear the answer a second time with her head on straight. "Like the kind from volcanoes?"

"I think they just take this from below the earth, not specifically from a volcano," Julia said thoughtfully.

"I almost made it halfway once!" Mia exclaimed, pride laced with every word.

"They let you do that?!" Savannah cried, horrified that they'd let anyone, let alone a 10 year old, on the death trap.

"It's what we do here, as heroes in the making," Julia shrugged. "We train. Even the younger generation has to," she went to rub Mia's hair, but the little girl moved away with quick reflexes.

"Sounds dangerous to me," Savannah muttered, biting her nails. If this was what they do to stay at this camp, she didn't think she would make it to tomorrow.

"Ah, you'll get used to it," Julia put an arm around her shoulders and started to walk her off to the next interesting thing. Mia smiled and also tried to put her arm around her on the other side, but because she was still short, she settled on holding Savannah's hand and started swinging back and forth.

"So, you guys are all daughters and sons of the Greek gods and goddesses?"

"Well, most of us. There are satyrs, half goat —" Julia started to explain, but was cut off by Mia.

"Like Grover, Percy's friend! Grover is out restoring the Wild!"

"You seem to know a lot of this Percy," Savannah commented, squeezing the girl's hand.

Mia smiled sheepishly and Julia chuckled. "She idolizes him. Ever since she learned that he brought back the Golden Fleece that practically saved the camp, she's been crazy about him."

"How old is this guy?" Savannah asked.

"Oh, he's probably seventeen now?" Julia said, trying to recall his age. "Much too old for this rascal." Julia reached over and poked her half-sister behind Savannah's back.

"And ... he's missing?" Savannah asked. "Annabeth found us while looking for him."

Mia looked away, saddened. Savannah's eyes widened, not meaning to have upset the girl, but Julia answered. "Yeah, he just sort of ... disappeared one night. Had the whole camp going wild when Annabeth said he was gone."

"And Butch said Annabeth's his ... girlfriend?"

  "Yeah, she was the last person to see him before he went missing. She's been searching everywhere, reading up on articles and all that. Really has her stressed," Julia said. Savannah nodded, this boy seemed to have a lot of people stressing.

  "Anyway, there's also nymphs, dryads, naiads — they dragged you out of the water — um ... Percy's half-brother is a cyclops—"

  "A cyclops?!"

  —AS the three walked around the cabins, Savannah could feel a tingling in the back of her skull. Something was nagging her, and she couldn't brush it off. Savannah looked over her shoulder to see the fire pit in the center of all the cabins. She stopped in her tracks, Mia looking at her questionably, but Julia kept strolling along. "— and this is the Ares cabin, I recommend you don't try and sneak in, unless you have a death wi — hey, you okay?"

  Julia had finally turned to see Savannah squinting at the small fire. It was like it was mocking her, flickering a vibrant red and orange when she stared for too long. It was threatening to pop and burst into a bigger flame, making Savannah nervous. She'd felt this all before.

  "What is that?" It couldn't just be a random fire pit. Something like that wouldn't give her this feeling.

  "Uh, it's a hearth in tribute to Hestia, since she doesn't have a cabin. Virgin goddess and all ..." Julia said. "Why?"

  "Nothing," Savannah took a deep breath and shifted her eyes away from the fire that died down at the absence of her gaze. "Just curious."

  Julia and Mia scrunched their eyebrows at the now weak flame.

  "You know what, I know the way to your boyfriend's cabin," Julia smirked, attempting to divert their attention elsewhere. "The short dark haired one, right?"

  "Uh — we're not together," Savannah said, pink dusting her face.

  "Oh please, and I'm a monkey's uncle," Julia snickered. Mia looked up with a shocked expression.

  "Really?"

  The two older girls burst into a fit of laughter at Mia's very concerned face, questioning the sanity of her older half-sister.

  "Yeah, his name is Steve," Julia told her.

  "Wait, you're just kidding, aren't you?" Mia put her hands into fists and placed them on her hips like a scolding mother.

  "Yeah, I'm just joking with you Mia," Julia responded, going to ruffle the girl's hair again, but for the second time, Mia was able to evade her. "You're getting better at that. But I'll get you someday, that hair will be a rat's nest."

  "It's already curly and poofy, it doesn't need more fluff or tangles," Mia patted it down but it just returned to its original state.

  Savannah chuckled. "But about Leo, do you know where his cabin is?"

  "Of course I know where Cabin Nine is," Julia scoffed. "Right this way."

  On the way, an idea seemed to hit Julia and she grew a Cheshire grin, making Savannah nervous. "So ... if you're not actually with Leo, you wouldn't mind if I go for it?"

  Her heart jumped. "No!" Savannah cried. "I mean, uh, no. He's um, he's a big troublemaker." Savannah blushed at Julia's look. Obviously, the girl had no intentions of, "going for it," with Leo.

  "We're all troublemakers. And I was just messing with you," Julia cackled. "You are so together. Even if it isn't official." A conch horn blew in the distance, taking Savannah's gaze away from her friend.

  "What was that?"

  "The dinner horn," Mia said. "And just in time, too. I'm starving."

  "How could you possibly be hungry after what you had for lunch?" Julia laughed. "I think Will or some other child of Hephaestus will lead Leo to dinner. How about we meet him there?"

  Savannah nodded. "Sounds good."

  —HOW many fires did they need at this stinking camp? Savannah almost groaned, looking at the campfire setup in the center. It wasn't the same fire pit, but it still brought on the same queasy feeling. Even the sight of it was making her insides churn, but the difficult part to comprehend was, it didn't feel bad. But she wanted it to.

  It wasn't pleasant, but there was a warm feeling of comfort as an after feeling, like taking bad tasting medicine and immediately feeling better.

  Julia caught on to Savannah's change in mood, and singled out Leo among his cabin mates.

  "Hey, there's Leo," she pointed. Savannah blinked out of her stupor, looking to where her friend was gesturing.

  As if the boy felt eyes on him, he turned around and found Savannah's eyes, waving manically with a big grin in her direction.

  "Definitely together," Julia sung and left her side with Mia trailing. Savannah scurried after them, but not before giving a final wave to Leo.

  "So, uh, how does this work?" Savannah asked, nodding her head in the direction of a line of campers in front of the giant bronze bowl holding the fire.

  "Well, you get the food you want," Julia started. They all grab a plate and Mia started piling on one of everything pretty much, Julia chose a little less, but still much more than Savannah was used to at the Wilderness School. They gave you just enough to barely fill up your daily dose of the food pyramid, and that was it.

  Here, it was practically a buffet. And to make things worse, Savannah's stomach was still settling from the earlier encounters with fire, so she settled with a small slice of steak and carrots.

  "Get a little bit more," Julia directed.

  "But this is all I want to eat," Savannah remarked. She knew she wouldn't be able to stomach more than that.

  "Trust me, you'll need it," Julia said.

  Savannah sighed, but stacked another slice of meat on her plate and some lettuce with no plan on eating it. She was just doing it to please Julia. Maybe Mia will eat the leftovers, so nothing was wasted.

  But when the girl walked over to the fire and dumped a portion of her food into it, Savannah understood. Well, not really. She understood why she needed more food: to burn it in the fire. But she didn't understand why.

  Julia walked back over to Savannah and smiled. "Your turn," she bumped her hip against Savannah's side. At Savannah's very clueless face, Julia laughed. "We send food sacrifices to the gods because it pleases them." Julia can't help but chuckle some more. "You should ask for your parent to claim you while you do it. That's how most campers are claimed."

  Savannah was still a bit confused on how gods could enjoy burning food, but she didn't question them. She nodded to herself and put on a face of determination, walking forward.

  But every step she took closer to the fire, a flood of nausea overcame her. She wasn't sure if this was the effect it had on all campers and they were just used to it, or just her, but she continued on, not wanting to make a huge scene.

  She took a huge breath to try and calm her nerves as she took a final step. The toes on her right foot were pointed to the ground and pressing hard, attempting to rid the queasy feeling that was increasing every second.

  Savannah's hand shook as her fork scraped the slice of meat off her plate. Once it fell into the pit, Savannah opened her mouth to speak. Before a squeak of sound could escape her, the fire exploded in size and color. The heat was so strong it turned blue. And the flames seemed to lick the sky it was so tall.

  Savannah's feet slipped as she tried to move backwards quickly. She crawled away on the ground, ignoring the pain in her backside from the fall. Her breathing was ragged and she shut her eyes tightly, the tears in her eyes being pushed down her cheeks. She shook her head fiercely and refused to open her eyes, even when the roar and cackle of the fire was quieter and campers started gasping again.

  "Savannah?" "Savannah!"

  "What is that?"

  "I've never seen that before."

  "Someone get Chiron."

  A few pairs of feet were heard leaving the pavilion and still Savannah kept her eyes closed. A hand was placed on her arm gently, making her flinch, but the familiar warm touch made her relax a bit more. Savannah opened her eyes to see Leo before her with worried eyes that didn't suit him.

  Leo debated telling Savannah about the glowing symbol above her head, but he didn't want to freak her out more.

  "Hey, hey, it's okay, you're okay," Savannah leaned her head against his shoulder as he kneeled down in front of her. He held the bottom of her elbows as she took deep breathes.

  "What is all this commotion?" A strong voice boomed and the sound of loud hooves resonated nearer to Savannah and Leo.

  "Look," a little voice — Mia — said.

  Chiron examined the girl on the ground until something hidden behind Leo's head was visible. A glowing red-orange image of a half circle with flickering flames on the top. Hands were cupping the underside of the half circle.

  Chiron sighed and looked at the campfire then the sky, slowly closing his eyes. "Oh, Hestia, what have you gotten yourself into?"

NOTES ;
I DON'T HATE THIS ONE