misplaced || l. valdez

6 || annabeth's sad, piper's mad, and mari's confused

° ~ •. ♆ chapter six ♆ .• ~ °
"annabeth's sad, piper's mad, and mari's confused"

Mari soon realized that Annabeth's heart wasn't in the tour.

She talked about all this stuff the camp offered— magic archery, pegasus riding, the lava wall, fighting monsters— but she showed no excitement, as if her mind were elsewhere. She pointed out the open-air dining pavilion that overlooked Long Island Sound. (Yes, Long Island, New York; they'd traveled that far on the chariot.) Annabeth explained how Camp Half-Blood was mostly a summer camp, but some kids stayed here year round, and they'd added so many campers it was always crowded now, even in winter.

Mari wondered who ran the camp, and how they'd known that she and her friends belonged here. She wondered if she'd have to stay full-time, or if she'd be good at any of the activities. Could you flunk out of monster fighting? A million questions bubbled in her head, but given Annabeth's mood, she decided to keep quiet.

As they climbed a hill at the edge of camp, Piper and Mari turned and got an amazing view of the valley— a big stretch of woods to the northwest, a beautiful beach, the creek, the canoe lake, lush green fields, and the whole layout of the cabins— a bizarre assortment of buildings arranged like a Greek omega, Ω, with a loop of cabins around a central green, and two wings sticking out the bottom on either side. Mari counted twenty cabins in all. One glowed golden, another silver. One had grass on the roof, another was bright red with barbed wire trenches. One cabin was black with fiery green torches out front.

All of it seemed like a different world from the snowy hills and fields outside.

"The valley is protected from mortal eyes," Annabeth said. "As you can see, the weather is controlled too. Each cabin represents a Greek God— a place for that god's children to live."

She looked at Piper and Mari like she was trying to judge how they were handling the news.

"You're saying mom was a goddess." Piper said.

Annabeth nodded. She looked over at Mari, who was still staring at the valley. "Mari, do you know who your mortal parent is?"

Mari snapped back to reality. "Sorry, I'm in the same boat as Jason. I don't know or remember much about myself."

Annabeth nodded. "Well, you two are taking this awfully calmly."

Mari almost laughed. She was absolutely losing her mind, she just must've been really good at hiding it. The whole 'you-have-a-Greek-god-for-a-parent' was just added on to her list of weird stuff that had happened today.

Piper took a shaky breath. "I guess after this morning, it's a little easier to believe. So who's my mom?"

"We should know soon." Annabeth said. "You guys are what— fifteen? Gods are supposed to claim you when you're thirteen. That was the deal."

"The deal?" Mari asked.

"They made a promise last summer... well, long story, but they promised not to ignore their demigod children anymore, to claim them by the time they turn thirteen. Sometimes it takes a little longer, but you saw how fast Leo was claimed once he got here. Should happen for you guys soon. Tonight at the campfire, I bet we'll get a sign."

Mari wondered if she'd have a big flaming hammer over her head, or something even more embarrassing, maybe a flaming monkey. Piper was lucky, at least she knew that her mother was a goddess. It narrowed down her options. Mari had a hunch, but it didn't help the fact that her godly parent could be literally anyone. "Why thirteen?"