~ { Shadow and Beauty } ~

Cabin One

   Luckily for her, everyone seemed to either be in their cabins, or training at the arena, so the place was deserted. She made her way to the porch of Cabin One, but stopped when she heard two people talking. One was definitely Jason, and the other sounded like Annabeth.

   "Kiara has them too, right?" Jason was saying. "But hers was a bit different than mine."

   Kiara stiffened. She didn't like it when people talked about her, no matter what they said. She approached the door and listened carefully, not making a single sound that would give her away. She didn't want to be caught eavesdropping and lose everyone's trust.

   "She has the symbol of Pluto on her arm, along with the motto of the Romans," Annabeth's voice said.

   "Do you know where she is?" Jason asked. "I was hoping maybe she could come with us. After all, the prophecy mentioned her."

    "I don't know, Jason," Annabeth said. "It's dangerous to bring more than 3 people on a quest. But I guess if you talk with Chiron..."

   "Okay." Jason paused. "I, um... had a weird dream last night."

   "Happens all the time to demigods," Annabeth said. "What did you see?"

   That was when Kiara quietly went back down the steps of the marble porch of Cabin One. She knew they weren't talking bad things behind her back, and that was all she needed to know. She didn't want to eavesdrop on their whole conversation. That would be rude.

   She walked around the cabin, passing behind it, and sat on the ground, leaning against the cool marble. Her thoughts immediately went to the dream she had had that night.

   She had seen her mother and father. Her last name was Morrigan, which was the name of a Celtic goddess. She didn't know how she knew who Morrigan was, but she did. Her mother had promised to keep her safe, but Kiara didn't know if she had been able to keep her promise. She had also learned that she was born in the 1930s: But if so, how was she still 15? Was she 15? She couldn't remember.

   And what about the quest? Could she go? Would Chiron allow it? It was no secret bad things had started to unravel. Was she supposed to go on the quest to try to make things go back to normal? Well, as normal as things could be when you were a demigod. Especially when you were a daughter of Pluto and born in the 1930s yet still 15 years old in the 21st century. This was a hell lot confusing.

   Maybe she should tell Chiron about the dream and how she'd seen Pluto. Wait. Pluto was a Roman god. She had the letters SPQR—the Roman motto—burnt onto her forearm. She was in a Greek demigod camp. No wonder she felt as if she were in enemy territory. She was in enemy territory. She was a Roman demigod.

   Sometimes Kiara wished she wasn't so smart.

   She got to her feet and started running. She was going to the Big House. Maybe she could find some clues in her backpack; not that there was much in it.

Thankfully, the Big House was deserted. Kiara wondered where everyone was as she rushed to the extra bedroom she had been given.

   Her gray backpack was waiting on her bed. She picked it up and turned it upside down, emptying its contents onto the bed—one extra pair of jeans, two t-shirts and a pen.

   She grabbed one of the shirts and held it in front of her. How come she hadn't noticed the designs before? The designs were gold-yellow. The four letters of the Roman motto were printinted in the middle of the purple shirt with a gold laurel wreath surrounding it. Above the laurel, two words were printed: CAMP JUPITER.