Brighter Than the Sun

Chapter One

The next day I scarfed down my breakfast and hurried to the Big House, where I was planning to wait for the taxi to the airport. I didn't want to be late.

I noticed Mr. D., also known as Dionysus, the god of wine, had come to stand beside me. It surprised me, as he usually despised campers, excepting his own children, but I tried not to let my surprise show.

"Finally going to that British school, are we?" he asked. I nodded. "Remember your promise to Chiron. You may not have sworn on the River Styx, but a demigod is only as good as his word."

"You refer to Ariadne," I remarked, remembering how in the myth Theseus had promised to marry her but ended up abandoning her on an island. Not exactly the best example.

"Yes." the god of wine nodded. "Now remember your promise. Do not tell anyone about... what?"

"I know, I know: My father, or Camp Half-Blood, or the gods. I know."

"Are you ready, Aisling?" Chiron asked, trotting up behind Mr. D. and I. I nodded. "You know what to do?"

"Yes," I replied. I'd flown to England exactly twice before to see Grandma'am; once when I was eight and again just last year. All the rest of the times, she'd come to me, and we'd had a shopping spree in Manhattan.

Chiron nodded, convinced that I would be alright, and left with Mr. D.

One of my brothers came to stand by me, a fifteen-year-old Californian named Daniel, though nobody called him that, opting instead to call him Dan or Sunny D.

"I'm going to miss you, Ash," He said, ruffling my blonde hair.

Ash was my nickname. One of the Daughters of Aphrodite came up with it, and since everyone thought it was cute, it stuck.

"I'll miss you too, Dan," I replied, waving him off playfully and fixing my hair. "I'll try to be back for Christmas. Maybe I can bring something from Hogsmeade, that Wizarding town I read about."

"Like what?" he asked. Good question. What could I get a No-Maj from a Wizarding village that he could actually use? A Sneakoscope would activate so often it might break because of all the monsters coming at us.

"Like Chocolate Frogs or something."

Dan smiled. He liked chocolate. He also liked frogs (he caught lots of them at the lake to help the Hermes kids with their pranks), but I wasn't sure if there was a connection there. I just smiled back.

The taxi arrived and I hurried to it and pull out some money and requested, "Airport, please."

I arrived at the London Airport and went to the sidewalk outside, where I stuck out my wand arm. A violent purple bus came roaring down the street. When I'd first ridden on this bus I'd been surprised. I'd thought all buses in England were red.

Now I just grimaced at the thought of being flung from one side of the bus to the other as it pinball-ed its way to its destination.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus," the conductor said, droning in a monotone voice, reading from a small piece of paper. "I am Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this evening."

The fact that I had ADHD and jet lagg wasn't helping. I got impatient. "Um, that's great," I said. "How much to the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Er... Tha'll be 'free Galleons," Stan Shunpike replied. I managed to find the correct amount in Wizard's money. How I'd manage to keep up with three different kinds of currency, I had no clue, but I was determined to do it. After all, I had yet to use English No-Maj money. I made sure he got all of my luggage before sitting down on my assigned bed and fidgeting with my bow and arrow keychain, which actually grew in size when I needed to fight monsters. I also had a Celestial Bronze sword, but that was in my trunk at the time and I rarely used it.