Starting Over

I was shaking. Only a little bit though. Only my hands were shaking too. I had to put them in my pocket. Percy and Grover noticed my scar from the hellhound and began to ask about it. "I got it from fighting a hellhound. It attacked us not to long after we got off the train." Grover looked stunned(this satyr and his stares like damn!). "Out of curiosity, where are you guys from?" "Delaware. And, if I can ask you a question, what is with all of these looks?" "Sorry bout that. Its just that, a demigod that isn't found by the time their thirteen usually, well um" "Is dead. Grover brought me here when I was twelve. He was my best friend before that though." Percy cut in. Great, now I was suppose to be dead. Percy continued. "Actually, it's strange that you and Fiona are here. Gods don't normally go back and have more kids with the same mortal, especially with this much of an age difference." "But the only time I've ever been attacked was when I ran away."

"Well, that's good news. My name is Chiron." I looked up to see that a centaur was talking to me. Well, a centaur was pretty normal for me this far into the game. Man, where is Fiona? Is Annabeth going to bring her? I barely noticed that Percy and Grover were explaining what happened, up until now. "So Annabeth has Fiona. Do you want me to go and get her?" "That's alright Percy. Why don't you and Grover go and train kids down at the arena." "Okay. We'll catch you later, Tyler. Let's go G-Man." Then they took off. Chiron invited me into what I assumed to be the Big House. The living room was pretty cozy, with a fire place and chairs, except for the fact a man was feeding and talking to a jaguar's head. My life has taken a stroll down WTF lane. "Mr.D, this is one of our new campers, Tyler. Tyler this is Mr.D." Mr.D was wearing a shirt that should of made him rethink his whole life. I'm not evening going to describe it.

"Nice to meet you Thomas." "It's Tyler. And nice to meet you too. My sister is with Anna-" "Wait. How old are you and your sister?" Mr. D asked. "She's seven and I'm fifteen. I already know that it's odd." Mr.D give me a look of...pity? He just moved aside and began to leave. "You two need to talk. See you later Thomas," and with that he was gone. Chiron walked out to the back porch and I followed. He asked me to tell him everything about my life. "Everything?" "Yes." "If you insist, but make me a promise." "Okay." "No one else will know about this conversation." "I swear on the River of Styx no one else will know of this conversation." "Okay then." I began my story.
********************************************************************************************************** "When I was born my mom was a pretty nice woman. She had long hair like Fiona's and her eyes weren't always full of anger. One day I asked her about my dad and she said, 'You don't need to worry about that now." That's all she ever said about the topic. She was always doing things to make me smile; going to the movies, buying the latest toys and just letting me have dessert without dinner. That last one happened rarely. I kept to myself in school so I didn't any friends. One day, I was eight, I herd my mom yell. She sounded upset, then she and defensive. I was downstairs so I couldn't completely make out what she said. She just came downstairs and was smiling. I could tell something was wrong but I wouldn't say anything. 'Tyler, go outside. Have some fun. Now, don't come back until around dinner time.' 'Mom, it's like four now. What am I going to do for four hours?' 'You're a smart boy, you'll think of something. No go.'

"I didn't argue. I just got up and left the house. I probably traveled all over my town three times. Some of the adults gave me suspicious looks and some gave me pity. There were a bunch of kids out but since I didn't know any of them I just walked around for four hours, like my mom said. I made it back to my house at eight, to the sound of my mom cursing and banging on a window. She came downstairs sweaty and tired. Her clothes were wrinkled and smelled funny. She just said, 'I ordered pizza for you. Wait for it. Good night.' I never felt so left out in my life. Two weeks later mom told me she was pregnant. For the next couple of months I asked all about my new sibling. When we found out Fiona was a girl I got really exited. That day Mom hugged me and said, 'I'm so proud of you. I know you are going to be a big boy and protect you baby sister.'

"Mom was about five months when she went into labor. Everything happened so quickly. All I remember is calling 9-1-1 and having to wait in the hospital waiting room. Then a doctor told me that I could come and see my baby sister. I was led to the room where her incubator was. her lungs, stomach and heart hadn't finished developing and she was five pounds under weight. 'Where's my mom?' 'She is sleeping.' I knew he was lying. 'Did my mom name the baby?' 'No, not yet.' 'Can I name her then?' The doctor smiled. 'I don't see why not.' 'I think I like...Fiona. Fiona Henderson, what do you think?' 'I love it.' The doctor stayed with me until I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was in a chair with a blanket over top of me. A nurse bought me a change of clothes and took me to school.

For five months Fiona was in the hospital. After school I would walk there just to see here. The doctor would always vouch for me so I wouldn't get in trouble. My mom, she changed. There was no more new toys, there was no more going to the movies, there was no more just desserts, there was no more love. I was on my own. My only consultant was the mysterious doctor and my half alive baby sister. Once she was ready to come home, my mom refused to so much as look at Fiona. I had to pack her up and take her home that fall evening. The doctor came up to me right before I left. 'Hey kiddo, you take care of your sister alright?' 'Alright.' Do you have a babysitter?' 'I'm going to take her to school with me.' 'That's not such a good idea. Here take this card and call this lady anytime you guys need a babysitter. Take care kiddo.' That was the last time I saw him.

"Until Fiona was old enough for daycare, I would call the lady and have her babysit. The lady came around for about six months. She would always come, take care of Fiona, wait for me to come home and then take care of both of us before sending us to bed. My mom hated her. She made that clear between her bottles of beer and her clear usage of drugs. The babysitter taught me how to take care of myself. On her last day she told me, 'Do not follow in your mothers footsteps. Take care of Fiona. Take care of yourself. We might just meet again.' Then she left. That's when the abuse began.

"Mom was always finding a way to hit me. I could just be sitting on the couch and she would throw a beer can at my head and slap me. I never complained about it. I just assumed that she would stop. Mom began to curse me out and throw things at me daily. I couldn't trust her around a baby. I would have to hide Fiona in my room most of the time out of fear. This went on for seven years. Three months ago, my mom snapped and began to beat up Fiona. It was the first time she had ever hit Fiona. I was not about to let that happen. So, I tossed my mom off of Fiona, packed our bags and ran away. So there that's my story. Happy?"

I was crying. I never told anyone anything remotely like this. I trusted Chiron with my life story and I had just met him. I can't remember the last time I cried. I tried not to because I had to be strong for my sister. I just sat there and cried for I don't know how long. I finally pulled myself together and cleaned myself up. Chiron just sat(or whatever you want to call it, with him being half horse) next to me. He just nodded and sat there for a while. "Come on, it's almost time for dinner." We walked out of the Big House and I got about ten feet before Fiona ran up to me. She was jumping up and down and had a grin on her face from ear to ear. "Oh, Tyler you missed it! Annabeth and I the best time! I saw a hellhound named Ms. O'Leary and she was so sweet. And Annabeth told me that when she was my age she ran away too and that if I ever wanted to talk to her I could! Isn't that awesome?" I just smiled and Fiona took my hand. We walked to the dinner pavilion.
********************************************************************************************************** We sat at the Hermes table because we haven't be claimed yet. Dinner was pretty fun with all of the pranks being played on each other. Once, a kid got wacked upside the head with roll, that exploded and drenched him in hot sauce. After dinner, we went to the campfire. The fire was blazing golden and Fiona was making a mess trying to make s'mores. It took us a while but we finally had some that we could eat. Neither of us could remember the last time we smiled and had fun like this. Fiona was leaning up against me and asked me to sing. "Okay." "Tyler, why is that the only thing you say when I ask you to sing to me?" "I don't know, I guess since that you always want me to sing to you 'okay' is the only thing I can think of." "Just sing already." "Okay," I laughed.

I was thinking 'bout her, thinkin 'bout me
Thinking 'bout us, what we gon' be
Open my eyes yeah, it was only just a dream
So I travelled back down that road
Will she come back? No one knows
I realize, yeah, it was only just a dream
I was at the top and now it's like I'm in the basement
Number one spot and now she find her a replacement
I swear now I can't take it, knowing somebody's got my baby
And now you ain't around baby I can't think
I should've put it down, should've got the ring
Cause I can still feel it in the air
See her pretty face, run my fingers through her hair
My lover, my life, my shawty, my wife
She left me, I'm tied
Cause I knew that it just ain't right
I was thinking 'bout her, thinking 'bout me
Thinking 'bout us, what we gon' be
Open my eyes, yeah, it was only just a dream
So I travelled back down that road
Will she come back? No one knows
I realize, yeah, it was only just a dream

By the time I finished, every eye was on us. I recognized their stares as the same trance Annabeth was in when we where in the woods. Then I realized something that kind of freaked me out. The entire Apollo cabin was looking at us, and that's not saying much. There was only ten of fifteen of them. All the kids looked just about my age and they all seemed to have a look of fear on their faces. That's when I realized a symbol hanging above my head. It was the sun with an arrow crossing it. The same symbol was above Fiona's head too. Chiron spoke up and said, "All hail Tyler and Fiona Henderson, son and daughter of Apollo." My dad was who now? This can't be happening.

A kid came over from the Apollo cabin came over. He looked eighteen and had red hair and blue eyes. "My name is Brandon. I'm the head of our cabin. I want to be the first to welcome you to the Apollo cabin." "Thanks," was all I could say. Fiona had something else on her mind though. "Brandon?" "Yes, Fiona?" "Apollo is the god of the sun right?" "And music. Why?" "Well, since he's the god of the sun, why do Tyler and I have midnight blue hair?" Laughter broke out from all over.

Notes

I don't know what Apollo's symbol would be, so I made one up. Tell me what you think! Will update soon!