"Come on, let's go get you cleaned up, Naida." Annabeth took my arm and led me up towards the cabins. It was the first chance that I had to actually look around at the camp. There were 12 main cabins in a 'u' shape with a bunch more flanking out on either side like wings at the base. There was a large blue mansion at the top of a hill where I'd found Chiron and Mr. D playing cards earlier, the big house, as Annabeth called it. Between the cabins and the fields were the bathrooms.
"When you find out who your parent is, you'll have a cabin and you won't really have to use these bathrooms- unless you have lots of other siblings that hog yours up."
Inside the bathroom we ran into the girl that had captained the other team. She was super buff and reminded me of the women’s water-polo team. I took a step back; I'm not ashamed to say that the girl scared me a little.
"Hey Clarisse," Annabeth greeted cheerfully. Now that the game was over they seemed like they were friends and not mortal enemies. “I heard that you and Chris went out into the city last night. How was it?"
Clarisse smiled. It wasn't exactly comforting because she still looked scary and mean, but it did make her look more like a girl. "It was pretty fun. He took me to a Broadway show. Why, are you going to drag Percy on a date?"
Annabeth shrugged. "Maybe." She turned to me and jumped a little, as if realizing that I was still there. "Oh, Clarisse, this is Naida Hale. Naida, this is Clarisse La Rue, head counselor of the Ares cabin."
"Nice to meet you," I said when I got over the shock that they were having a civil conversation when only a few minutes ago Clarisse had tried to kill me.
"Yeah, you too, twerp. I'll admit that you did pretty good out there earlier."
"Uh. Thanks."
"Well, I have to go find Chris. See you two at dinner."
"Bye, Clarisse.” She washed up her hands and pulled her hair down so it tumbled down her shoulders. “So, Naida, are you ready to go find out who your dad is?"
I shrugged. "I guess." In truth, I couldn't have been more nervous despite how detached I was making myself out to be. I'd spent my whole life wondering. Wondering who he was and why he didn't want me. It was easier to be angry at a faceless man than a real entity.
I felt pretty awkward at dinner. Everyone had a table to sit at that represented their godly parent. Annabeth told me that it was tradition to sit with your siblings but a few kids switched tables every now and then. She said that I could sit with her, Percy, and Grover at Poseidon's table- Percy's dad. We got our plates and I followed her to scrape part of it into a bonfire. "Why are we doing this?" I whispered.
"It's paying respect to the gods. Most of us offer up to our parent but..."
"But I have no idea who that may be. I get it. Can't he just, like, claim me and get it over with? I’m tired of feeling like I’m waiting for some bad swim meet results."
She gave me a sad smile. "Sorry, but they do what they want. I'm sure that it won't be long now."
"What won't be long?" Percy asked as we sat at the table.
"Naida getting claimed. Her father should be doing it soon."
Percy's face darkened slightly. "Yeah, he should. I'm kinda hoping that I'm wrong about who it is."
"You know what? I don't really even care. I just want to get this over with but if whoever it is doesn’t want to claim me then I'll just go back home with my mom and we'll move again. How does that sound?" I popped a ravioli in my mouth to emphasize how little I cared.
"Nai-" A sharp gasp gut Annabeth off. She was staring at me with wide eyes, and when I looked around, so was everyone else. Percy's expression as he looked over my head was twisted in a slight scowl. I looked to see what was drawing everyone's attention and gasped myself. A green glowing pitchfork was hanging over my head.
"What the hell does that mean?"
"It means," Percy mumbled, "that Poseidon’s your father. You're my sister, Naida."
I felt a little pang of hurt the way he said it. "Sorry, Percy."
He blinked his green eyes once. "What? No, that's not what I meant. Sorry, Naida, that came out wrong. I'll explain it all back at the cabin."
Of course, more 'laters' for explanations that I'd probably never get.

Notes

um. hi :)