Decimate

Chapter Eighteen--Mark--Birdnado

I noticed Sean getting claimed, of course. It was awesome.

But I didn't really get to marvel in all of his glory because I was a little busy getting swarmed by birds.

As soon as the crab's empty shell dropped, the ground under my feet suddenly seemed to get a little less stable, and white birds burst from it, flying up into the air and swarming around me like a tornado.

The hundreds of wings made a sort of buzzing noise, and blocked my vision with white, making me blind from anything around me.

Just as I regained my balance and raised my dagger to attack, the birds vanished with a small puff of pink.

A few feathers spiraled around me, and a few on the ground. My hair was tousled to the side and the neck of my shirt had fallen over one shoulder.

"What the hell," I panted. "Was THAT?"

Percy trotted over to me. "I think I know who your godly parent is."

"No shiz."

"Aphrodite."

When he said the word I paused to let it sink in. The shallow girls who live in the pink cabin and wear enough makeup to fill a swimming pool.

I groaned quietly. "Really?"

Percy shrugged.

I turned to Sean. He was still staring above his head, even though the caduceus was long gone.

"So Hermes huh?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I'm down with that. I like the cabin and stuff. He seems cool."

"Wish I could say the same about Aphrodite."

He shot me a sympathetic look. "Sorry."

"Come on," Percy said. "I gotta show you to your cabin Mark. Sean, I'm guessing you can find yours, since you've already been staying in it for a while."

Sean nodded, and I followed Percy reluctantly. He led me to the Aphrodite cabin, and I stared at it with distaste.

I looked up at Percy with pleading brown eyes. "Are you sure we can't just pretend I'm still undetermined?"

He sighed. "Sorry Mark."

"Will you at least walk me in?"

"Can't. The girls don't like me much. Or rather, they like me too much." He shuddered. He gave me a semi-encouraging nudge towards the lacy pink door, and I reluctantly walked in.

I never had anything against pink. In fact, I had always kind of liked it. But now I decided it should be purged from the world.

When I walked in, it was mostly girls, but there were boys too. I was one of the shorter people, but I wasn't the only one with dyed hair. A lot of the girls had silver or pink or red hair, but none of the guys. I immediately felt uncomfortable.

A girl with black hair in ringlets and blue eyeshadow walked up to me. She had a look on her face as if she'd just drunk sour milk, and her lipstick was the same color as my hair.

"Who are you?"

Ugh her voice. It was nasally and high pitched. It made me want to scratch my ears off.

"Mark." I kept my voice quiet. She seemed to radiate authority.

"I think you're in the wrong place sweetie. Why don't you just run along to the Hephaestus cabin or something."

I wanted to shrink inside my shirt. Her voice seemed to tell me that I was useless.

I lowered my eyes to the ground and muttered something about just getting claimed.

"Must have been a mistake sweetie."

The way she said sweetie made bile rise in my throat.

"Mom wouldn't claim you, even if you were her son. She'd be too embarrassed. Now run along."

Her voice filled me with the desire to leave as fast as I could. Or at least, even more of it.

"Watch it Drew." Piper walked up from behind the girl and shoved her aside. Drew flipped her hair and left, leaving the lingering smell of sickly sweet perfume.

"Hey Mark. What's up?"

"I just got claimed."

She broke into a grin. "Really? By Aphrodite? That's awesome!"

I shrugged, and she seemed to sense my discomfort. "I know, I was pretty reluctant when I was claimed too. It just took a little time to get used to it, and I decided it wasn't so bad."

I shrugged again.

"I'll show you your bunk."

She led me across the room. I earned a few stares from the others, but kept my eyes on the ground until we got there. It was a plain bed with a red and pink striped comforter, which I wrinkled my nose at. It was on the lower bunk, with another bed above it. I wondered who's it was.

"Need anything?"

I shook my head. "Just a little time to get used to it I guess."

She put a reassuring hand on my shoulder for a minute before leaving me.

Just a little time.