Catching Lightning | Jason Grace

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Aurora linked her arm with Piper's as she led her toward the campfire. The younger girl was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't even bat an eye at the nymphs running past them, giggling and whispering to each other.

"Hey, don't worry." Aurora nudged Piper's shoulder with hers. "Whatever happens can't be more embarrassing than my claiming."

"What happened?" Piper asked curiously.

"Well, like I said earlier my dad is the god of being overdramatic. I had only been at camp for, like, three hours. I was still getting used to the 'half-horse guy runs a summer camp' thing."

"Half-horse guy?"

"Yup. Then we started gathering for the campfire. Once the sun was going past the horizon, a bright light blinded everyone. And when we could see again a giant golden sun was over my head. And I started glowing! I swear I even heard an angel chorus but Percy says that's just my imagination."

Piper grimaced. "I hope my claiming isn't like that."

"Don't worry," Aurora laughed. "The goddesses usually aren't quite as dramatic as the boys."

"I think you're lying to me, but I'm going to hold on to the delusion of hope."

"That's the spirit!"

The amphitheater steps were carved into the side of a hill, facing a stone-lined fire pit. Fifty or sixty kids filled the rows, clustered into groups among various banners. They spotted Jason in the front next to Annabeth. Leo was nearby, sitting with his siblings under a steel-gray banner emblazoned with a hammer.

As soon as Aurora knew she wouldn't be abandoning Piper, she ran over to where her siblings crowded around the campfire, leading the sing-a-long. She jumped onto an open space on the bench and began doing the motions for the song about grandma getting dressed for war.

Aurora saw Piper stare at them in confusion while Annabeth rolled her eyes playfully. Jason chuckled lightly and she smiled brightly at him as she took control of the sing-a-long. As the energy level got higher, the flames did too, turning from red to orange to gold.

Finally, the song ended with a lot of rowdy applause. Aurora took a bow and sat down next to her siblings. Chiron trotted up and brandished a spear impaled with toasted marshmallows.

"Very nice! And a special welcome to our new arrivals. I am Chiron, camp activities director, and I am happy you have all arrived here alive and with most of your limbs attached. In a moment, I promise we'll get to the s'mores, but first-"

"What about capture the flag?" somebody yelled. Grumbling broke out among the Ares campers.

"Yes," The centaur said. "I know the Ares cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games."

"And kill people!" one of them shouted.

"However," Chiron said, "until the dragon is brought under control, that won't be possible. Cabin Nine, anything to report on that?"

He turned to Leo's group. Leo winked at Piper and shot her with a finger gun. Next to him, Nyssa stood uncomfortably. She wore an army jacket a lot like Leo's, with her hair covered in a red bandana. "We're working on it."

More grumbling.

"How, Nyssa?" an Ares kid demanded.

"Really hard." The girl said.

Nyssa sat down to a lot of yelling and complaining, which caused the fire to sputter chaotically. Chiron stamped his hoof against the fire pit stones-bang, bang, bang- and the campers fell silent.