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chapter nine
I DISCUSS MY POSSIBLE-FATHER
SEN
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Luke gently handed Sen her bedroll and her bag of old clothes. "Well. At least it was easy to pack you up."
Sen pursed her lips, trying to blink back tears as she vacantly stared at his chest.
"Hey, don't worry," Luke said. "Clarisse was asking for it, really. I already told Chiron that it wasn't your fault."
"I don't know anyone over there," Sen mumbled, referencing cabin seven. A single tear fell down her cheek as she thought about how scared she was. "At least I knew you. Now I can't even live in here."
Luke sighed. "I'll walk you over there, okay? Helena is a great head counselor. I'm sure you'll be okay. And you'll definitely make some friends- Apollo kids come in all varieties, and they're very sociable."
Sen nodded, turning around. She hugged her items close to her chest and Luke put a gentle hand on her upper back, guiding her to cabin seven. She kept her gaze down, trying to ignore the stares campers were giving her. As she approached the steps of cabin seven, she heard loud music blasting from somewhere inside. All kinds of music, actually- she heard a live guitar, a live saxophone, a boombox playing R&B, a couple of kids beat boxing and rapping, a girl singing opera. Luke knocked a few times on the wooden door and the sounds slowly died down.
Luke cleared his throat. "Helena? You in here?"
A girl walked forward, her skin a very dark shade of brown. She had very plump lips, one side of the bottom one decorated with a golden hoop. Her head was shaved, her coily hair bleached, and she had honey-brown eyes and a pleasant smile. She was tall, too- maybe Luke's height- and very physically fit.
"Hey!" she grinned. "You must be Sen! I am Helena." Sen was surprised by Helena's Spanish accent. Sen just looked down, embarrassed that people could actually see her.
Luke sighed. "She's a little upset. Just..."
Helena suddenly reached out and put her hand on Sen's arm. "You'll be okay in here, honey. I promise. Luke, thank you for bringing her!"
"'Course," Luke nodded. He turned to Sen. "You'll be alright, see?"
Sen nodded absently, and watched sadly as Luke walked back to cabin eleven.
Helena closed the door of cabin seven. "It's almost lights out, but we can take a few more minutes to get you situated." She led Sen to the very back wall of the cabin. "Top or bottom bunk?"
"Top," Sen mumbled. Being in the top bunk made her feel like royalty, as childish as it was.
Helena sighed. "You don't need to cry, Sen. It'll all work out in the end." She sat down on the bottom bunk and smile pleasantly at Sen. "So, where are you from?"
"Manhattan," Sen said. "Where are you from?"
"Santo Domingo," Helena said.
Sen blinked. "Oh. My foster parents are from the Dominican Republic, too."
"Ah! ¿Hablas español?"
Sen smiled nervously and held her thumb and forefinger an inch apart. "Um... poquito."
Helena clapped and laughed. "Awesome! So, now that you're here, it's custom... customary? I think that's the word... It's right that I tell you about the god Apollo. What do you know about him?"
"I know that he's the god of the sun," Sen said. "And he plays the lyre."
"Yes," Helena said. "Lucky for us, our father is a god of many things. The sun, music, archery, plagas, prophecy, truth, oráculo, dance, healing-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sen said. "Why is he the god of so many things?"
Helena shrugged. "Who knows? However, most of us in cabin seven divide in three different ways; healing, music, and archery. Some of us can play any instrument we pick up. Some of us can heal with a touch. Some of us never miss our target. It's... tricky to figure it out. Do you know what you're good at?"
"No," Sen frowned.
"Well, do you think you are a good healer?" Helena offered. "Do you feel like you're good at medical things?"
"Not really," Sen frowned.
"Well, do you have good aim?"
Sen blushed, thinking about how embarrassing it was to play basketball, since she sucked so bad. "No..."
"Are you a good singer?"
"I like to sing, but I'm not good."
"Sing for me."
Sen knitted her eyebrows. "I want to go to sleep." Helena blinked. "Dormir. No awake."
Helena smirked. "Your Spanish accent is good. How'd you learn so well?"
"I picked up on conversations over time," Sen admitted. "Mrs. Sanchez also really loves her Latino soap operas... and she plays nothing but Selena, Luis Fonsi... Shakira..."
Helena snorted. "Do her hips not lie?"
"Her hips do not lie," Sen admitted, managing a small laugh.
Helena stood up, and surprised Sen by giving her a hug. "Welcome to our family, Sen. Try to get some rest." As she pulled away, she clapped twice, catching everyone's attention. "Bedtime, everybody! Go to sleep!"
Everyone listened to her, shutting off their instruments, voices, and speakers as they crawled into their bunks. Even though the dazzling lights overhead shut off, Sen noticed everyone have a little light next to their bunks, each one different. As her vision focused, she realized they were nightlights, like a child might have. With their dad being the god of the sun, were these guys afraid of the dark?
Sen found that strange. She wasn't afraid of the dark. She tucked into her own bed and unplugged the nightlight that came with it, her head situated close to the window. She had a perfect view of the woods, seeing little owls flutter by every now and then. In the distance, she could hear the droning of bees. She hoped to find the hive tomorrow. Maybe that might bring her some solace.
She shivered as she pulled her blankets over her body. She thought about Percy, still unconscious in the infirmary. She didn't want to tell him about her day. She did not have a good day. She felt sick to her stomach again as she thought about what she did to Clarisse, what her hands had turned into. Was Apollo also the god of bees? Was that one of her powers? She felt tears brimming her eyes as she thought about the way everyone stared at her, like she was some sort of monster, some sort of freak.
She cried silently, wondering when Percy would wake up. Maybe he was weird, too. Maybe he wasn't your typical demigod. Part of her hoped he wasn't- prayed he wasn't atypical. He should get to feel normal for once in his life. Maybe Hermes would claim him. Luke was a nice guy- he'd be a good brother, right? Or maybe he wouldn't get claimed, but he'd stay in cabin eleven. That'd be good, too.
Still, Sen didn't want to feel so alone. A tiny part of her prayed Percy was a little weird, too. Maybe he wasn't customary like her, or he got claimed after some sort of unorthodox event. Maybe his powers were strange, too. She could confide in him that way. She either wanted him to be the most normal demigod there ever was, or the strangest one, and she hated herself either way.
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"So," said Mr. D, dealing out cards to Sen and Grover. Sen felt stupid sitting in Chiron's wheelchair, but Mr. D made her. "Your little stinger trick..."
Sen felt bile rising in her throat again. "You know about that, huh?"
"Pfft, of course. I know all about the insane things that go on here, and my son told me."
Sen narrowed her eyes. "Is he really your son, or did you just lie and say he is?"
"No, he's definitely my son," Mr. D said. He said it in a way that made Sen nervous. If he was definitely Mr. D's son, Sen probably didn't want to see that kid. "But, I heard about the stingers and the sonic scream. That's interesting."
"What stingers?" Grover asked.
"Nothing," Sen said.
Mr. D made an O with his mouth. "Why, satyr, you didn't hear? Sarah got tackled by Charleze, so her nails turned into wasp stingers and she stung Charleze ten times!"
Grover's face paled in horror as he turned to Sen.
She looked down. "I wasn't trying to do that, I- That has never happened before. Neither has the scream! And my name is-"
Mr. D waved his hand. "The more a demigod understands that they're a demigod, the more they manifest some powers. It's perfectly normal! Now, demigod, you understand that you are a child of Apollo, yes?"
Sen pursed her lips. "A-about that... are we sure that I'm his child?"
Mr. D blinked. "Well, I'm so confused what the claiming means..."
Sen frowned. "I mean like... what if I'm just the child of another demigod? Like- like Apollo's my grandpa or something."
Grover shook his head. "I mean, technically it is possible, but it's so rare for a demigod to have-"
"It's so rare, that we would definitely know if a demigod had a child," Mr. D cut off.
Sen blinked. "How would you know?"
"Excuse me?"
"How would you know?" Sen said. "What if- What if you can't keep tabs on an adult demigod once they leave camp? Once they're in the world? My birth mother- or my biological father, if we're following this theory- wouldn't have needed long. If it's my mom, less than a year in the mortal world would've secured me. If it was my dad, he'd only need long enough to..." She blushed and looked down. "Y'know..."
Mr. D blinked. "Impregnate someone."
Sen cringed. "I hate that word!"
"What, 'someone'?"
"No! The first one!" Sen shook her head. "Whatever. I just... I just don't feel like Apollo is my dad, okay?"
Mr. D sipped his Diet Coke. "Did you have a dream?"
"No. It's a gut feeling," Sen shrugged.
"A gut feeling."
"All of the Apollo kids are like that," Grover said. "Sen, I suspected your dad was Apollo for a while. Your intuition is off the chain, the way I've only seen the kids in cabin seven display. So..." He gulped. "Why do you not feel like Apollo is your dad?"
"I can't know for certain," Sen said. "Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez... well, I never asked about my real parents. I didn't want to know. But, maybe I can talk to them and learn something. Who gave me up and when. Maybe why... As long as I can remember, I've been a foster kid, so I can't really know. But, Mr. D, do other Apollo kids have stinging powers?"
"Pfft, no."
"That's reassuring," Sen frowned, looking down.
"Uh- well, it might have to do with..." Grover frowned. "Hyacinths?"
"Who cares about hyacinths?" Sen demanded.
Mr. D groaned. "Do not get me started on that guy..."
"Well, Apollo's sacred flower is the hyacinth," Grover explained. "And Daphne was turned into a laurel tree. To grow plants, you need pollinators. Maybe that's why."
Mr. D stared at him. "You are reaching for the stars, boy."
"I agree with Mr. D," Sen frowned. "I don't think that has anything to do with the stinging thing. You can explain the- the scream and my intuition, since Apollo is a god of sound and prophecy, I just... something really does not feel right."
"Well, give it time," Grover said. "The Apollo kids are really great. Usually, they divide-"
"One of three ways," Sen cut off. "Helena told me. I just don't really feel like I do."
Grover offered a small smile. "Well, remember when you went in the talent show? You were really good at that!"
"I wasn't singing or being a medic or shooting archery!"
Mr. D grinned. "What were you doing?"
"...Magic tricks..."
"Were you any good?"
"No." She stared at Grover. "You're just trying to embarrass me."
"I swear I'm not."
Sen picked at her shorts. "I don't want to be here anymore."
"Great!" Mr. D said. "Then maybe you can go down to the Galley-"
"I'm not getting you drunk!"
"Then you are useless. Please leave my sight," Mr. D said. "Go canoeing again, or go visit your little friend."
Sen sighed. "Okay. Where is he?"
Mr. D snorted. "How should I know?"
"I thought gods were all-knowing."
"No. That's some crap the Christians made up about Big-G God. Us gods- the Greek gods- are woefully unaware of most of the stuff going on around us. How do you think Zeus was able to cheat so many times for so long? And Hera has better eyes than most gods. Now, please go away. I can't bear to look at you any longer."
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Sen found Percy walking alongside Luke, getting a slight tour of the twelve cabins. Luke noticed her first and broke into a grin, waving her over and calling her name. Percy snapped his attention to her, his blue eyes wide as Sen awkwardly walked over to him.
She rubbed her hands together. "Did you get settled in?"
Instead, he said, "Luke told me about Apollo."
Sen gave Luke a look and he nodded reassuringly. I didn't tell him about the fight. Sen turned to Percy and just stared at him. "I moved in last night."
"Apollo," Percy repeated, nodding. "That's... cool. What else did you do yesterday?"
"Um, Luke tried to train me a little bit yesterday," Sen admitted. "In the arena and stuff. It was..."
"Fun?"
"Terrifying."
Luke laughed. "Sen did very good, Percy. Lightning quick."
"I know," Percy snorted. "She always beat me in races when were kids."
Sen hesitated. "Where are you guys going now?"
"I was just gonna show Percy the cabins, talk about some of the gods," Luke said. "What are you up to?"
"Not much of anything."
"Do you need to find Helena?"
Percy turned his head to look at Luke. "Isn't that an MCR song?"
"Yes," Sen said, "but it's also the name of the head counselor of my cabin. And... no, I don't think I need to find her." More than anything, she just wanted to be around Percy. The past twenty-four hours had been crazy stressful. Sen just wanted to have a little bit of fun and relaxation.
Luke smiled. "Well, maybe you can take Percy to the canoes. Have a better time than we did yesterday."
Percy blinked in surprise, staring at Sen. "You and Luke were on the canoes?"
Sen gave Percy her Crazy Eyes.
"Yeah, we should go," Percy said, backing down. "Might be kinda fun."
"Cool," Luke said. "Just make sure you come back when you hear the conch horn so we can go to dinner, alright?"
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"He's nice," Percy admitted, helping Sen row the canoe. "He seems to really like you."
"I like him," Sen admitted with a smile. "He's really nice, and he's been super helpful."
"He's a little older."
Sen blinked. "What a strange thing to say."
"No, I-" Percy rubbed his nose bridge. His blond curls seemed to glow in the sunlight, matching the ripples of white on the surface of the water. "I mean like... Sen, we've been best friends since we were kids."
"I'm aware."
"I know when you have a crush on someone." Sen's face burned so red, she thought she might have a sunburn. "I can tell you like him."
"I've only known him for a day!"
"It's never taken you more than an hour to think you're in love!" Unfortunately, this was true. Sen was a bit of a hopeless romantic. "I'm just saying, you're twelve, and he's like... sixteen or something."
"I've never even had a boyfriend," Sen gritted. "I'm not- I'm not gonna go after Luke or anything like that." And I think that Annabeth girl might kill me. "Sometimes, we can like people, and just like them."
Percy raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh." He propelled the boat further. "It's fine if you like him and all. He's a little different from the other guys you've liked before, to be fair..."
"In what way?"
"Y'know, he's got darker hair, darker eyes. You like goofy white dudes, usually." Sen blushed and looked away.
"Well, I'm not expecting anything to come of it," Sen told him. "You're right. He's a lot older than me, and boys don't really even like me, anyways-"
"That's not true. Don't say that."
"Who likes me?"
"Well, I can't know for sure, since I didn't have any other friends, but remember Parker?"
"He was so annoying!"
"I really think he liked you," Percy admitted. "You're not hideous and unattractive, Sen."
Sen just pursed her lips as though it'd make her less-desirable qualities go away; her squeaky voice, her braces and lisp, her chubbiness, her height. She wished all of that was different. "Whatever. Don't tell Luke."
"I won't," Percy vowed, a small smile on his face. Usually, Sen told him upfront when she had a crush on someone. Well... Pause. Usually, Percy said You have a crush on someone, then Sen admitted it and went into her whole spiel. His smile slowly spread and he nodded."Did you get the butterflies when you were training?"
"Oh my gosh, he is so cute."
"Didn't pick that up."
"Did you not see his face?! Ugh, he's so adorable, I just wanna give him a smooch. Not a gross one, like a peck on the cheek, like a mwah! like a polite mwah! on his cheek."
"What's a gross kiss?"
"Y'know, with tongue and stuff." Percy wrinkled his face. "Imagine slipping tongue to a girl with braces."
"It'd be like those Play-Doh toys where you squeeze and the Play-Doh turns into into a bunch of strings," Percy snorted.
"Mrs. Sanchez told me that one time, she made out with a boy when she had braces, and his lip got caught and they had to go to the ER to give him stitches."
"I do not foresee French kissing in your future."
"I think I would get overwhelmed to have someone's tongue in my mouth." Sen stroked her chin. "Like in romance movies, when the guy rams his whole tongue in her mouth? Eugh. Why not something more polite, like flowers? Or a nice sweater?"
"It's called being horny," Percy stated. "More tongue means more horny."
"How do you know?" Percy pursed his lips. "Never mind. I don't want to know."
Percy tilted his head. "Hey, where did we get the word horny from?"
"'Cause of ding-a-lings getting hard. Like a horn between ya legs."
"Facts?"
"I dunno. Makes sense, doesn't it?"
Percy sighed, shrugging.
"I guess it does."
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sen's most-used word is prolly gonna be ding-a-ling once we done with this istg i didn't even intend all of this.
also i fact-checked it and yes the word "horny" stems from an erect ding-a-ling resembling a "horn"