Hi! My name is Silena Valdez. My parents are Leo Valdez and Thalia Valdez. My parents tell me stories all the time of the Greek gods and goddesses, but I never really understood the meaning of them. That was until my 13th birthday. I never understood why I didn’t have grandparents, and why I was such a burden on my parents. Then it was explained.
“Silena!” my dad yelled up to my room. I didn’t want to get out of bed, but then I remembered that it was October 24th. My birthday. I ran down the stairs and Mom was making my favorite breakfast. Eggs in the shape of little clouds or thunderbolts and bacon with toast. I also liked my bacon to be up in a teepee formation so it looked like a fire. I’m weird. My dad walked out of the master bedroom, and came and gave me a big bear hug. I laughed. “My precious daughter is 13.” He turned to my mom. “Has it really been that long?” She nodded with a smile. I laughed again.
“Honey, can you pull the toast out of the toaster, and do the dishes? I have to go get ready.” My mom asked ever so nicely. He laughed.
“If you trust me around the toaster.” She kissed him lightly, and I cringed. My mother’s black hair flipped back and forth as she walked into the bedroom and closed the door. “Dammit!” my dad cursed quietly. I looked over, and he broke off half of my piece of toast in the toaster. I laughed. “Here. I will make you more toast.” He set the plate down in front of me. Perfect. Everything was great. Then my dad stuck his hand into the toaster and grabbed the other half of the piece of toast.
“DAD!” I screamed. He looked over with wide eyes. His hand was still inside the toaster. My mom came running out of the bedroom in jeans and a shirt half on.
“Honey! Your hand!” she yelled with anger. He looked down at his hand. He coughed.
“Oh…um. Oh! Ouch!” he said, not convincingly. My mom scowled at him. When he pulled his hand out of the toaster, it was on fire. He was sweating.
“Leo!” my mom was red with fury. He was scared now.
“Dad, your hand…..is……on…..FIRE!” I started calm and ended screaming. He shook his hand and the fire went away. He was completely unharmed. I was baffled. My mom looked at her feet and rubbed her forehead.
“Leo, we should probably cancel the party.” She said grimly. He nodded and grabbed his phone.
“Wait! Why?! I can’t have a party?” I yelled.
“Not today you aren’t. We have to go somewhere else.” My father said, just as grim. After a few phone calls, he sat at the table and so did my mother.
“Honey, we need to tell you some-“ she was cut off by a knock at the door. Dad motioned to my mother as if to say, “I’m going to check the door, you take Silena into the bedroom.” My mother did just that. My dad started to the door and his hands turned into balls of fire.
“Mom…I…..this…..ughhh.” I mumbled and then passed out.

I woke up in the backseat of my mom’s car.
“I had the craziest dre-“ I was interrupted by my dad. He turned around and kissed me on the forehead. He was all sweaty and hot. The touch of his skin was like pressing myself against a hot tin roof. My mom was driving the car and she had on a t-shirt, jeans, sneakers, and her hair was in a messy bun. This wasn’t my mother.
“Honey, were going to a special place, and meeting some of Mommy and Daddy’s friends.” She said gently and a little scared. “One of them has a 13 year old son that is coming with them.” Then I sat straight up, and realized that I was still in my pajamas. I ran a hand through my chocolate brown curls.
“Mom! I’m in my pajamas!” I yelped.
“I grabbed a shirt, jeans, and a pair of your converse.” She said with no concern. I was very concerned. I turned and started digging through the trunk. I found neatly folded clothes at the bottom of the junk. No. This wasn’t happening. My mom had brought my ‘My Little Pony’ shirt.
“MOM!” I screamed. The car swerved a little.
“Don’t yell at me Silena! What do you want?” she said with a little anger.
“You brought my ‘My Little Pony’ shirt!” I whined.
“That was the only T-shirt in your drawer.” She said, again without concern. I huffed loudly. It was another half hour before we got to this ‘special place’. I looked out the window, and realized that it was a summer camp. It had a beautiful strawberry field in the distance. My mom and dad had already gotten out of the car. Their friends weren’t there yet so my mother took me to a large marble cabin that I changed my clothes in. When I got out of the cabin with my pajamas in hand, my mom and dad were talking to a blond woman, and a black haired man. Behind the blond wan was a boy. That was the 13 year old my mom was talking about. He was handsome. I immediately straightened my shirt and held my pajamas in front of the ‘My Little Pony’. I tried to go unnoticed to the trunk so I could put my pajamas away, but I was spotted by my dad. My face got hot and red like a cherry tomato. My dad ran over to me.
“Let’s go meet my friends!” He said with a smile. I gave him an uncomfortable smile. We walked over to where my mom and her couple friends were standing. The guy with black hair gave me a stupid looking toothy grin. I smiled back.
“You look just like your dad.” He said with a smile. “I’m Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon.” His wife laughed and elbowed him.
“I’m Annabeth Chase-Jackson, daughter of Athena.” She had a gentle, yet commanding voice. My jaw dropped to the floor.
“You are demigod? Two demigods? You guys are real?” I was rambling to myself. Percy gave me my dad a questioning look.
“You haven’t talked to her about this?” he almost sounded mad. “We need to go to the Big House now.” He was definitely a leader. His voice was so strong and loud. Everyone, including the handsome 13 year old, walked up to the large administrative building. Then a centaur opened the door. I was dreaming I started to get lightheaded. He smiled.
“Leo, Thalia, Perc- is she okay?” he said turning to me. My dad grabbed me just as I was about to pass out. His voice kept me conscious.
“Don’t lock your knees.” He whispered softly. I then stood up straight. “That’s my girl.” The centaur then had a look of enlightenment on his face.
“First days can be hard.” He said gently.
“How di-“ I started. He interrupted me.
“Your not the first to pass out at the sight of a mythical creature.” He explained. The word ‘mythical’ made me sick. We walked in, and took a seat on a large couch. “My name is Chiron. I am trainer of heroes here at camp. This is Camp Half-Blood. Demigods from all corners of the world come here to stay safe and train. I think I will send you with Charles, and I will stay with your parents.” He explained. Charles got up and looked at me. He gave me a grin and my dad’s face was priceless. My dad’s hair started spitting little balls of fire. Charles coughed loud and his face went serious.
“I can give you a tour.” He then turned to my father, “If that’s okay, Mr. Valdez.” Charles looked really nervous. I blushed a little. My dad laughed.
“At least he has manners.” He laughed. Charles and I turned beet red. Mom waved us out. Charles was a gentleman. He ushered me out before himself and held the door for me. My dad was right. Then he mellowed out a little bit.
“So, how long have you been going here?” I asked trying to break the ice.
“Only for about 3 weeks. Maybe I can help understand your feelings.” He said in the most suave voice ever. He was so dreamy.
“Ya, how do I know who my godly grandparents are?” I asked. He shrugged.
“There really is no way to tell until-“ then he stopped and looked up above my head. His jaw hit the floor.
“What is it?” I yelped frantically.
“You have been claimed.” He said blatantly.
“Claimed?” I asked. He nodded.
“When your godly parents reveal themselves, they put a symbol above your head. Yours is a hammer, and a lightening bolt.” He swallowed hard.
“Hephaestus and Zeus.” I said with amazement. Then my mind started racing. All the things I had learned about Greek mythology. Fire in a Hephaestus child was very rare, but my father had it. My mother was a daughter of Zeus. Oh my gods.
“Do you still want that tour Lava Girl?” he said with a playful tone. I smiled.
“Of course.” I laughed. We walked first by the cabins, and he told me all of the assigned cabins to the god or goddess. “So who are your godly parents?” I asked.
“Poseidon and Athena.” He said with pride.
“They were enemies, how did they have a kid?” I was baffled. How could two enemies agree to let them even be near each other.
“My parents said that I was a gift, but I came with a huge problem.” He said with grimace.
“Well, my parents told me that I was a mistake, but I am now a gift.” I laughed. “They try to use the word gift as a substitute for problem or mistake.” I finished.
“Hey, do you want to see something cool?” he said, changing the subject. I nodded with excitement. He then stuck his hand out into the air. Water started to pull from the river across the way. It started forming a hurricane. I then felt a tugging feeling in my gut. He then grabbed my hand. “Just concentrate.” I then focused on a cloud. The swirling monster of water started glowing and spitting electricity and sparks. Then the hurricane started to touch the sky, and the clouds started to form to the hurricane. I looked at Charles with excitement. We both grinned a mile wide. Then I heard my mom scream. Charles and I immediately calmed the storm. I didn’t realize how dark the sky had gotten. We turned around to my dad’s hair on fire, and Percy had a disturbed look on his face.
“What happened?” my mother screamed.
“Charles showed me his powers, and I found mine.” I said quietly. Annabeth looked at my father.
“They’re too powerful. How are we supposed to deal with this?” she shrugged and rubbed her forehead.
“Maybe we can be of assistance.” We all turned to face four gods.
“Dad!” my mother yelled, and ran to Zeus. Everyone except for Annabeth hugged their godly parent. Annabeth just glared at her mother, and Athena glared back. One by one, they went down the line and introduced themselves. Then Poseidon took the mic.
“You two are very powerful. You also have a prophecy written about you. We wouldn’t have let you live unless you were important to humanity. Just like your parents.” He looked at Charles. “Especially you son.” Then he gave a face to Athena. Athena just glared at him. Hephaestus laughed.
“We will soon find out what other powers you have. Both of you have strong heritage. You will have many gifts, but we already know that you can control two of the Big Three Realms. That’s definitely a plus.” Athena said with command. Now I knew why Annabeth didn’t like her. She was very snobby.
“I think we need to have a family meeting, and explain some things to the kids.” Zeus said. We all walked over to the coliseum. We all sat on a seat. Charles and I sat next to each other. This was definitely a good start.
“I will start!” Poseidon bellowed with an old fisherman laugh. “Zeus, Hades, and I all promised to not have kids because they posed a threat, they were too powerful. Hades was the first to break the rule. He had two children, Bianca and Nico. Zeus was next. He had Thalia and her younger brother Jason. I was the last. I had just one child, Percy. He and Annabeth went to camp together for years, and saved the world 5 times from a betraying friend. In the end 3 friends died. Charles Beckendorf, that’s where Charles comes from. His girlfriend was Silena Beauregard, hence the heritage of Silena’s name. They both sacrificed their lives to save the world. The last was Luke Castellan. He was the betraying friend, but in the end he looked in his heart and killed Kronos. Kronos was about to take over the world. Thalia was a huntress leader, and she led the hunters to help in Manhattan. Then when we thought the fight was over, Gaea started to stir. Then Leo, Piper, and Jason helped save the world one last time with the help of Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, and Frank.” He explained. Zeus then piped up.
“Your parents were incredible kids. Those are big shoes to fill, but you have two times the power that they did. You can imagine why the other gods are scared. They have passed a law that says, ‘All demigods have to mate with a mortal. Any demigod that mates with another demigod will be dealt with by the council of gods.’” All of the parents turned grim. Athena spoke up.
“Don’t worry. We managed to spare you because of your service to the gods. That doesn’t mean we won’t kill these two.” She turned to Charles and I. Annabeth went red with fury.
“If you so much as put one hand on either of these kids, I will repent my allegiance to the gods.” She yelled. Percy pulled her back. Athena shot them an evil glare.
“These kids need to prove they’re worth their power!” Athena yelled back at her. Athena lowered her crystal-hard glare to Charles and I. I felt a tugging feeling in my gut as she raised a sharp spear. The parents started to get up and the other gods held them back. She gave us an evil grin, and then she stopped. She pulled the spear down with a look of confusion.
“Go Silena!” my dad shouted. I sniffed.
“Something’s burning.” I said simply. I had smelled my dad’s cooking skills for 13 years. I know burning. I then looked down at my hand. “AAAAHHHHHHH” I screamed really high pitched. “I’M ON FIRE?!” I started running around the coliseum and then rolled in the grass nearby.
“Honey, it’s okay.” My dad yelled without concern. Then I remembered that morning and how my dad was on fire. It was a Hephaestus gift. I then got up and was so embarrassed. I looked at everyone. Everyone besides my dad had a look of terror.
“Am I still on fire?” I asked with a swallow. Everyone nodded, not changing his or her facial expression. I looked at myself from head to toe, and I was completely engulfed in fire. I smiled and giggled. I looked at Athena. Her face was the most terrorized.
“You have a special gift child.” She said as her gaze turned icy hard. I smirked. My Zeus ego then kicked in. I laughed loudly. Athena and I entered a showdown. My dad’s smile faded.
“I can’t believe that a goddess would have the nerve to terrorize little children that, by the way, you are related to.” I smiled. It felt like 100 degrees, but I liked it. It gave me strength and power. She gave me the same evil grin that was on my face.
“Silena don’t push your lu-“ my dad started, but was interrupted by the goddess.
“Quiet Valdez. I admire her courage, but her temper and ignorance is a negative. Just like her father.” She laughed and stuck her nose in the air. I was mad. I felt the flames get bigger and roar as my temper went crazy. My eyes were wild with evil. I turned to see my father in much smaller flames than mine.
“Mom, stop!” Annabeth snapped.
“Annabeth ple-“ She started, but it was my turn to cut her off.
“You can call me ignorant, but I won’t let you insult my friends and family.” I yelled. The flames started to burn around me within a 3-foot radius. Everyone stepped back.
“Silena!” my dad yelped.
“No dad, I have to ‘prove my worth’” I said with a grin and a smile. Athena gave me the death stare.
“What will you do child? What is your next move?” she said with a laugh. I concentrated on her spear, and got in a battle stance. The flames traveled to surround her and I. Then I made the flames extend to her spear. The spear caught fire quick and disintegrated to nothing. She stared at me with fury. “How dare you disrespect a goddess like that. You have set your own death trap idiot child.” She spat at me with hate and anger.
“Silena!” my mother yelled, and threw me a shield. It was hers. Aegis. I caught the shield, and it extended just as I rolled through Athena’s attack. She had spawned a new spear. Great. She came with another attack, but I blocked with Aegis. I then went to offense with a hit to the shoulder of Athena by Aegis. She stumbled backwards, but never fell. She dropped her spear in the process. I ran to pick up the spear as she walked towards me with a bundle of spears. I grabbed the spear, and fell backwards. Aegis fell out of my grip, and Athena advanced towards me. She started throwing spears at me while I dodged them. I was still on the ground. She ran to me, and put the spear to my throat.
“You lose.” She said simply. She smiled.
“That’s what you think” I choked out with panting. I closed my eyes, and concentrated on the sky.
“That’s a good little brat. Prepare for death.” She pushed the spear farther into my trachea. I couldn’t breathe. Then I heard what I was waiting for. A sound of thunder came from the distance. My mother was crying and screaming. My father was yelling. Zeus and Hephaestus held them back. I could hear Annabeth sobbing quietly. Charles was yelling my name. Then a loud crack of thunder made them all stop everything. The world was silent. Athena took the spear off my throat. I opened my eyes, and everyone was looking at the sky. I had to move quickly. I grabbed my spear off the ground and put it to Athena’s throat. Everyone looked with surprise. I had beaten Athena on my first day. She glared at me.
“You were wrong, and you lost. Don’t be a bad sport.” I laughed and panted at the same time. She grabbed the spear and broke it in half. She growled with anger.
“This is not over child.” She said with calm fury. She then dissolved to mist. My dad ran to me. He hugged me tight.
“I am so proud of you.” He said starting to cry. Percy summoned some water, and put out the fire. Then my mother ran to me. The storm immediately calmed. When my parents were done, Charles ran to give me a big hug. We laughed. Zeus came up to me.
“You are extraordinary. I order that Silena start training now. Charles show her to Cabin 1.” He said with command. Hephaestus started to laugh.
“I finally have something on Athena! Hephaestus 1, Athena zilch!” he laughed loudly. I smiled. I said goodbye to my parents, and Charles said goodbye to his parents. We started to walk to Cabin 1. We stared at each other for a moment. Then he spoke.
“Are you ready to get crazy?” he laughed. I smiled.
“Only if you can handle me, Shark Boy.” I replied. We both laughed all the way to Cabin 1.

Notes