Daughter of Neptune, Book one

III

The biggest shock was the cold. I was underwater, so disoriented that I didn't know which way was up. This would be a stupid way to die, I thought.

I started to swim up and landed on the shore next to Leo. A second later, Piper came up on the shore gasping and shivering. Nearby, Butch stood in the lake cutting the wrecked harness off the pegasi. Fortunately, the horses looked fine, but they were flapping their wings and splashing water everywhere. We were surrounded by kids giving us blankets and asking questions. Someone took Piper by the arms a helped her stand up. Apparently kids fell into the lake a lot because a detail of campers ran up with big bronze leaf blower- looking things and blasted us with hot air; and in about two seconds my clothes were dry.

There were at least twenty campers milling around--the youngest maybe nine, the oldest college age, eighteen or nineteen--and all of them had the same orange T-shirt like Annabeth's. The wreckage of the chariot was tossed from the lake and landed with a wet crunch. "Annabeth!" A guy with a bow and quiver on his back pushed through the crowd. "I said you could borrow the chariot, not destroy it!"

"Will, I'm sorry," Annabeth sighed. "I'll get fixed, I promise." Will scowled at his broken chariot. Then he sized up on Piper, Leo, Jason, and I. "These are the ones? Way older thirteen. Why haven't they been claimed already?"

"Claimed?" Leo asked. Before Annabeth could explain, Will said, "Any sign of Percy?"

"No," Annabeth admitted. The campers murmured. I had no clue who this Percy guy was, but he seemed very important.

Another girl stepped forward--tall, Asian, dark hair in ringlets, plenty of jewelry, and perfect make up. Somehow she manged to make jeans and an orange t-shirt look glamorous. She glanced at Leo and I, fixed her eyes on Jason like he might be worthy of her attention, and curled her lip at Piper as if she was a week-old burrito that had been pulled out of a dumpster. I didn't know this girl, but I knew we were going to be enemies.

"Well," the girl said, "I hope they're worth the trouble."

Leo snorted. "Gee, thanks. What are we, your new pets?"

"No kidding," Jason said.

"How about some answers answers before you start judging us--like, what is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?" I asked. "Tori," Annabeth said, "I promise your questions. And Drew"--she frowned at the glamour girl--"all demigods are worth saving. But I'll admit, the trip didn't accomplish what I hoped."

"Hey," Piper said, "we didn't ask to be brought here."

Drew sniffed. "And nobody wants you, hon. Does your hair always look like a dead badger?" Piper stepped forward, ready to smack her, but Annabeth said, "Piper, stop." Piper did. She wasn't a bit scared of Drew, and I wasn't either. But Annabeth didn't seem like somebody I wanted for an enemy.

"We need to make our new arrivals feel welcome," Annabeth said, with another pointed look at Drew. "We'll assign them each a guide, give them a tour of the camp. Hopefully by the campfire tonight, they'll be claimed."

"Would somebody tell me what claimed means?" Piper asked. Suddenly there was a collective gasp. The campers backed away. At first I thought she'd done something wrong. Then I realized their faces were bathed in a strange red light, as if someone had lit a torch behind me. I turned and almost forgot how to breathe.

Floating over Leo's head was a blazing holographic image--a fiery hammer. Vulcan? I thought "That," Annabeth said, "is claiming."

"What'd I do?" Leo backed toward the lake. Then glanced up and yelped. "Is my hair on fire?" He ducked, but the symbol followed him, bobbing and weaving so it looked like he was trying to write something in flames with his head.

"This can't be good," Butch muttered. "The curse--"

"Butch, shut up," Annabeth said. "Leo, you've just been claimed-"

"By a god," I interrupted. "That's the symbol of Vulcan, isn't it?" Jason added. All eyes turned to us.

"Jason, Tori," Annabeth said carefully, "how did you know that?"

"I'm not sure" Jason and I said at the same time. "Vulcan?" Leo demanded. "I don't even LIKE Star Trek. What are you talking about." "Vulcan is the Roman name for Hephaestus," Annabeth said, "the god of blacksmiths and fire." The fiery hammer faded, but Leo kept swatting the air like he was afraid it was following him. "The god of what? Who?"

Annabeth turned to the guy with the bow. "Will, would you take Leo, give him a tour? Introduce him to his bunk mates in Cabin Nine."

"Sure, Annabeth."

"What's Cabin Nine?" Leo asked. "And I'm not a Vulcan!"

"Come on, Mr. Spock, I'll explain everything." Will put a hand on his shoulder and steered him off toward the cabins. Annabeth turned her attention back to Jason and I. "Hold out your arms." Annabeth said.

I had taken off my sweater after our dip in the lake, leaving my arms bare, and on the inside of m right forearm was a tattoo. The tattoo couldn't have just appeared, but it was darkly etched, impossible to miss: a dozen straight lines like a bar code, and over that were six symbols, the biggest in the middle was a trident. To the trident's right was a lyre and a caduceus, and to the left was a sword crossed with a torch, a drawn bow pointing up, and an owl with the letters SPQR, and over the entire tattoo was a diagonal scar that seemed to go straight at my elbow and went up my entire arm. Jason had an identical tattoo, the only thing different was the symbols. Instead of having six symbols, he just had an eagle.

"I've never seen marks like this," Annabeth said. "Where did you get them?"

Jason shook his head. "I'm getting really tired of saying this, but we don't know." The campers pushed forward, trying to get a look at our tattoos. The marks seemed to bothered me a lot-- almost like a declaration of war.

"They look burned into your skin," Annabeth noticed.

"They were," Jason and I said. Then I winced because my head started to ache. "I mean...I think so. I don't remember." I said. No one said anything. It was clear the campers saw Annabeth as their leader. They were waiting for her verdict.

"They need to go straight to Chiron," Annabeth decided. "Drew would you--"

"Absolutely." Drew laced her arm through Jason's. "This way, sweetie. I'll introduce you to our director. He's... an interesting guy." She flashed Piper a smug look and led Jason and I toward the big blue house on the hill.