Chapter I
I
ANGELIQUE
It was the most awkward and unbelievable way to start things off, not to mention things were absolutely nuts before Angelique even knew what was going on. She considered going back home, but that was definitely out of the question. It wasn't like her mom and stepdad would even care, anyway- too busy with their celebrity status' and reputations. Who would ever care about the daughter that had ADHD and dyslexia? Oh, that's right, no one.
"This is so stupid," was all she could say about the matter. She didn't even know where she was heading, let alone know what was chasing her. Oh, yeah– something was chasing her... A big something.
Angelique knew what it was, but for reasons unknown she couldn't quite remember. It was probably something she learned in a class, something like History or English. It was probably both, but she never paid attention for too long because, you know, ADHD? But that was besides the point. It was such a dumb idea to run away, honestly; she didn't know why she did it.
Thankfully, these three other kids came to her rescue. One boy was tall and well built with tanned if not dark skin, black, curly hair and dark brown, warm eyes. There was a girl with dirty blond hair up in a ponytail with piercing green eyes and bronze earrings. Another boy had grey eyes with blond, shaggy hair and a varsity jacket with the name Mackleson on the back. They all wore orange shirts with Greek letters that she for some reason recognized as Camp Half-Blood. They had suddenly come to her rescue when the big huge monster thing had first attacked her.
The tanned boy's job was to distract the monster, so he lured it by talking to it which was kind of weird since he was talking to a monster. The other two didn't seem to mind it, so it must have been normal to them. The girl took to the trees and tried to find a weak spot anywhere, it seemed hard since the thing kept moving, and the other guy followed behind the monster, ready to stab it with his spear in hand.
"Any luck finding the weak spot?" The blond guy said keeping up.
"Was that a trick question? No! Every place we've tried hasn't worked! Well, maybe not the horns, but..." The girl in the trees shouted.
"Scream louder! Maybe it'll go deaf!" The tan one said.
"Shut up, pretty boy!" The girl in the trees said. The tanned boy just laughed which made the girl in the trees fume. It wasn't long before the monster decided it was enough chasing the tanned boy and started to chase after Angelique once again.
"Crap...!" She said as she started running again. "A little help maybe?!" She shouted trying to keep as far away from it as possible.
"Come on, Cam! Save the damsel! I thought you loved all the ladies!" The girl in the trees said.
"I got it!" The guy from behind announced as he jolted forward and stabbed at the thing's feet– or rather hooves. The monster got angry and started charging at him. He started leading it away. "Cam! Strike off its horn!"
"Are you crazy?!" The tanned one said. Angelique put two and two together and assumed his name was Cam.
"Just do it!" The guy now getting chased spat.
"Whatever the Athena kid says!" Cam said as he ran behind the monster. He jumped up and thrashed his sword at the monsters right horn. The horn snapped and the monster disintegrated into dust.
Angelique stopped dead in her tracks. "What the heck?!" She couldn't quite find any other words to say. That monster just turned to dust from just its horn being chopped off. What was left on the ground was the severed horn.
"That, lovely lady, was a Minotaur– Half man and half bull," Cam said. "My name's Camlo by the way– Cam for short."
"Lillyan, Lil or Lilly for short. Don't call me by my real name," The girl from the trees said. She had jumped down from the tree she ended up in and now stood with Camlo and the other guy.
"My name's Jake, nice to meet you," He held out his hand and Angelique shook it. Jake's grip was strong. It must have been from fighting monsters like the bull– Minotaur– thing. Oh, yeah. She had read a section on Greek myths in her English class. She actually almost felt bad for the thing when she read its story, but then again it almost just tried to kill her.
"So what's your name, missy?" Lillyan asked putting her hands on her hips.
"Angelique Maeng," she said as she adjusted her backpack. Strapped to it were her bow and quiver of arrows. She hadn't used them because she learned the hard way that her arrows didn't work on monsters and she was even told so. Lillyan had said something about celestial bronze; however Angelique was too busy running to multitask. What was celestial bronze anyway?
"We should start heading back to camp or Mr. D'll turn us into aquatic animals," Jake said strapping his spear to his back.
"It'll be a long flight to Long Island-!"
"Whoa, Long Island?! As in, New York?!" Angelique interrupted Camlo.
"Oh, yeah– and on Pegasi; it’s not the most pleasant ride ever," Jake said.
"For you guys; I'll be flyin' these babies," Lillyan pointed to her shoes that when she tapped her foot on the ground little wings fluttered open.
"Today just keeps getting weirder and weirder..." Angelique muttered.
"Oh, you haven't seen anything, hon," camlo said with a smile.
"Dude, don’t say that, it’s weird," Lillyan said.
"What is?"
"Calling people hon! It’s weird, especially when you just met the person!" Camlo just shrugged as they walked to where their flying horses were tied to a tree. There were two, a black and a white, both male.
"Alright, Opal, can you carry two?" Camlo said to the white Pegasus. It whinnied as if it was whining. "Well, you're going to have to, buddy," he said hopping on. He patted behind himself. "Hop on, Angelique," he still had a smile. Oddly, Angelique had the urge to do as he said. Weird. She did anyway.
Oh, man, the flight was rough.
They weren't kidding, but Angelique didn't feel like admitting it. She almost lost her lunch when Opal decided it was a good idea to do a twirl-around. She had the feeling the flying horse didn't like her all that much. When they finally got to Long Island, they had landed in a field which, to the naked eye, looked like a regular field, but once they passed a huge pine tree, there was a camp with orange banners and cabins and... A huge barn house with pillars?
"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood! Where everyone is half something– well besides..." Camlo said before a guy with a leopard print Bermuda shirt on came up. He honestly didn't look like he wanted to be there.
"Cameron, Layla, and John!" He hollered. "It took you long enough!" He scoffed.
"It's Camlo..."
"Lilly, Mr. D."
"...And it's Jake."
"Whatever! At least you got the girl–!"
"Angelique."
"Yes, whatever– we have a little... Problem," Mr. D said quietly.
"Like what?" Lillyan said suspiciously as she put her fists to her hips.
"Like a P problem."
"A what?" Camlo said confused.
"Prophecy? You know, the big one?" He said even quieter.
"Oh, my gods..." Jake muttered.
"What's so bad about it?" Lillyan asked curiously.
"The bad thing... Well, we'll talk about it during the bonfire– which is in thirteen minutes so Lyla–!"
"Lilly!"
"Whatever! Go get your cabin ready, Camlo, report to your cabin leader and Jake, go get your cabin ready as well. Angelica–!"
"Angelique."
"Whatever. Follow Lyla–!"
"Lilly!" Lillyan shouted.
"Don't make me turn you into a dolphin!" Mr. D snapped. "You will be part of Hermes cabin until we figure out who your parent is. Now off with you all!" He stomped off.
Camlo waved goodbye to Angelique while Lillyan stomped off as well, leaving Angelique no choice but to follow. Jake left as well, but she didn't know if he had done any goodbyes; of course, they would see each other once again at that bonfire.
When they arrived at Hermes cabin, it looked like an ordinary cabin; however, it was very crowded inside, allowing only minimum wriggle room.
"This is Hermes cabin; we're all kids of Hermes– except you, at least we don't know yet, obviously," Lillyan said. "You're probably, like, Apollo, or maybe Aphrodite?" She shrugged. "We'll find out– hey! Brats and half-siblings alike! Bonfire in ten!" She shouted. It spread across the cabin in the little room that seemed to be there. "Also, meet Angelique, she's temporary, but it’s pretty safe to say that she'll be someone else's problem after the bonfire! Now let’s go! Nine minutes!"
When the bonfire came, Angelique had been given a set of orange camp t-shirts that, for some reason, she wanted to make them unique to her. She'd do it when the bonfire was over. After Mr. D introduced her– pronouncing her entire name wrong (the last name she understood, it’s Korean and everyone got it wrong, but her first name was pushing it), they sang songs that made the fire grow and reach high up in the sky. She joined into the fun when they had asked her to but she sat down when she didn't feel comfortable. Around the end, the fire lowered and Mr. D stood up, a centaur standing beside him.
"Now, as most of you know, the new big prophecy had been told. And apparently it all pertains to the new girl, Angelo," Mr. D said.
"Angelique!" She corrected.
"Whatever! It does not say specifically who else is in the new Great Prophecy, but it most definitely includes you– and hopefully we find out who your godly parent is before this is all over."
"It’s actually quite surprising, actually. Usually the gods claim their child by your age–!"
"–Which was made possible because of Percy Jackson!" Lillyan pointed out, interrupting the centaur. Angelique looked at her surprised.
"... Yes. However, yours hasn't yet," He continued.
"It should be any minute now, right? Cause Hermes cabin can't hold anymore campers!" Lillyan said concerned. As if on cue, a symbol began to shape above Angelique's head. It took form of a lyre which meant nothing to her, but apparently everyone else knew.
"I'm guessing a god just claimed me?" Angelique stated pointing to the lyre. Jake grimaced.
"Apollo..." Camlo whispered quietly. His eyes were surprised.
"Hail, Angelique Maeng," the centaur announced. "Daughter of Apollo, god of the sun and the arts."
