Demeter's Destiny

When I woke next it was light out. It took me a few seconds to remember where I was, but when I did it all came rushing back at once. I took a deep breath and leaned back against my seat.

"Welcome back Sleeping Beauty. We're nearly there," Rowan giggled. I smiled back at her and rubbed my eyes. I looked out the window and noticed the change in scenery. There were trees everywhere. Very different from home. I thought about my dad. He probably will hire one of the boys from school to help on the farm now that I was gone. I wonder what the school will tell him about Mr. Smith. And what he'll think about me for running away. I look up when Rowan puts her hand on my shoulder. "It's going to be ok Aubrie. I promise." I smile my thanks. I hear the tires start crunching on gravel so I look back out the window. I see buildings of all sorts of colors and sizes appear. We weave in and out of them. There's a bunch of kids roaming around. Quite a few wear bright orange shirts. Lots of them also carried an assortment of weapons made from the same metal as my sword. The car finally parked in front of a building that was bigger than any of the others. There were letter I didn't recognize on it, but for some reason I knew it said 'Big House'. Rowan got out and motioned for me to do the same. I did and walked around the car to her side. That's when I noticed the centaur on the porch. I gaped as I watched him talk to a short dark haired girl. Rowan nudged me and then walked up the steps to the porch. I shut my mouth and followed quickly.

"Rowan you're back! And I see you brought a new camper," the centaur said.

"Yes Chiron. This is Aubrie. Aubrie this is Chiron. He runs Camp Half-Blood," Rowan explained. Chiron reached out and shook my hand. The girl next to him cleared her throat loudly. Chiron sighed.

"And this is..."

"I'm Delilah. Daughter of Aphrodite, if you couldn't tell," the girl interrupted. She was beautiful with long dark brown hair and stunning blue eyes. Though she was a good four inches shorter than me she had a commanding presence. Under her hard stare I realized that I was still in my gym clothes and my hair was probably a wreak after sleeping on it.

"You know what Delilah. I bet Aubrie would like to get cleaned up after her journey. Why don't you go find her a change of clothes?" Chiron suggested. Delilah snorted and looked me over again before walking away. "Don't worry about her Aubrie. The children of Aphrodite tend to worry about looks. She'll come around. Now why don't you tell me about your trip while we wait. Oh and Rowan the Elders wanted to see you as soon as you returned." Rowan gave me a questioning look. I nodded to let her know I would be ok. "Ok Aubrie, tell me about your trip. Well actually tell me how it started."

So I started from gym class. Chiron listened to everything I said and asked questions every now and then. It didn't take too ling before I had gone through the while story. Luckily Delilah showed up with a change of clothes before Chiron asked any more questions.

"Thank you Delilah. Why don't you show Aubrie where she can shower and then after lunch you can show her around camp," Chiron said and then went into the Big House. Delilah motioned for me to follow as we headed across camp. I passed by lots of cabins with kids doing all sorts of things in front of them. A boy and girl sparred in front of a red cabin with others cheering on. In front of a pink cabin girls were doing each others hair. Delilah waved to them as we passed. A couple of cabins down there were three kids tinkering with something. Just as we were passing it exploded. The kids sat there looking surprised, their faces and hair blackened by soot.

"Rocky! What did you do?" Shouted someone from inside the cabin.

"I did what you told me to do Valdez!" Responded the tinker who sat in the middle. A shorter boy came stomping out of the cabin. He had darker skin and curly dark hair. Rocky stood up and towered over him.

"Obviously you didn't! Now you guys have to start over. No more mistakes!" Valdez steamed, poking Rocky in the chest. Rocky frowned and looked disappointed in himself. The sight of such a tall guy being bossed by someone so small was too much and I busted up laughing. Rocky looked up and smiled. It struck me. I couldn't tell much of what he looked like under all of the soot, but he sure had a nice smile. He looked back down as Valdez started showing him what had gone wrong with the contraption.

"Give it up Leo, or your whole cabin is going to be covered," Delilah shouted. Valdez, who I guess actual name was Leo, stuck his tongue out as a response. Delilah tugged on my arm and we kept going. I didn't notice much else on the way to the showers. When we got there Delilah handed me some shower supplies and clothes. "I'll wait for you and then take you up to lunch. Afterwards I'll show you around camp," She told me as she turned to look in the mirror. I thanked her and stepped into the shower. It felt nice to be clean. I tried to reflect over everything I had seen today, but a thought just kept slipping back into my mind. What a beautiful smile.

Notes