Daughter of Kronos

Chapter 18

          Being ten wasn't super great. It was just like being nine, but older. I still felt the same, I guess. I clawed my way through the massive pile of gifts that was put at the foot of my bed while I was at dinner. I got some clothes, which was probably a good thing, considering the fact that I had left all of mine at home. Some generic girl toys, probably from some of the female demigods on board, a charm bracelet with a scythe, and yellow mittens. I got a furry blanket with cows on it from Ethan, and a pair of combat boots and an over-sized army jacket from Luke. The boots were stompy and fit me just right, but the jacket was too big. I had fun stomping around my room hitting things with the floppy sleeves. Eventually, I got tired of running around and flopped over on my bed. I was asleep faster than you could say "combine."

         I started training the next day. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

          It was worse. 

          The level of physical fitness was what I was least prepared for. It was like "The Biggest Loser," a show I watched once with Mom, but three billion times more intense. The ballroom that I had been in for training before now housed a dozen treadmills, climbing ropes, and monkey bars, and was full of demigods and monsters alike. But the thing that I hated the most was the yelling. Constant yelling. Yelling if you did good, yelling if you did bad, yelling if you were too slow, yelling if you messed up. I was ten, but the training room made me feel like I was five. 

          Eventually, I got used to the yelling, just like everyone else. I asked Luke if it was like this at the Camp Half Blood place he'd told me about before and he said yes, now stop asking about it. The only people that were nice to me in training were Ethan, and three of the Aphrodite girls, who thought I was the cutest thing ever. It was kind of annoying. Every time I took a water break they would walk over to me and act all friendly. Ethan would come over too, and try to talk to them, but they pushed him away. I could tell Ethan was really hurt by that, and that he really liked the girls, but I never said anything about it. I was happy to have some female friends, even if they were older than me and all they talked about was boys and makeup. 

         One day, a few weeks after I had begun training, Luke confronted me at dinner.

         "Sam?"

         "Humf," I said with my mouth full of mashed potatoes. 

         "You know how I told you about the transformation a couple of weeks ago?"

         I swallowed my food. "Yep. Why?"

         "Well, I've decided that it's time to start the transformation process."

         I blinked back my confusion. "So you're just going to go turn into Kronos now?"

         Luke laughed. "Not yet, thankfully. I get to be human for a little longer still. I need to go to the Underworld and bathe in the River Styx to become invincible. And I want you to come with me. The more you know about our plans and the Greek universe, the more help you'll be." 

        "Why do you need me, though," I asked, puzzled why they would need a ten-year-old girl on their quest. I could barely pick up a sword for crying out loud!

         "Well, you're his daughter, aren't you?"