ᴾʰᵒᵇᵒᵖʰᵒᵇⁱᵃ [ᴶᵃˢᵒⁿ ᴳʳᵃᶜᵉ]

i.

Aza stewed silently in the taxi-ride to camp. Her brows were drawn tightly together, small wrinkles forming on her forehead - the girl's russet eyes burned brightly, and she kept her lips pursed tightly as to keep from berating the daughter of Ares. Beside her, Clarisse wisely kept quiet - just as she had the entire airplane ride, and as they navigated JFK to get their luggage. Finally, Aza had enough as she watched the scenery whip by, and as the buildings grew shorter and sparser she said, "I can't believe you got us pulled over by TSA."

"It was an accident!" Clarisse defended immediately, and the taxi cab driver shot the two a curious glance in the rearview mirror. With one sharp look from Aza, he quickly looked back at the road and pulled the clear divider shut, giving the two girls privacy. A smirk threatened to tug at the girl's lips at the sheer power of her gaze, but it quickly turned back into a frown when Clarisse defended in a gravelly voice, "How was I supposed to know they would give me a pat-down?"

"They gave you a pat-down because you were carrying enough metal to build a new dragon," Aza slapped Clarisse's bicep hard enough to leave a visible hand-print, "You're so unbelievably lucky I manipulated the Mist enough to get us through." Her half-aunt made a face, and Aza rolled her eyes and leaned back into her seat, crossing her arms over her chest. She blew wispy strands of dark hair out of her forehead and glanced back out the window - they were streaking through the countryside. She didn't expect it to be long before they arrived at Camp.

Aza was right; it was less than twenty minutes later that the driver pulled to a stop in front of Half-Blood hill, peering at the sign, "You guys going strawberry picking?" Aza almost forgot that to mortals, Camp Half-Blood was a giant strawberry farm.
"Something like that," Aza handed him a wad of cash to cover their trip. The two clambered out of the car and thanked the taxi driver, taking their luggage from the trunk. He looked nervously up the hill, "There's not gonna be much reception up there. You want me to wait for you?"
"We're carrying full bags of luggage and that's what you're concerned about?" Clarisse rolled her eyes and hoisted her ugly orange bag higher on her shoulder, "Mortals. Get outta here." Aza sighed as the taxi cab shot them one last nervous glance. He quickly got back in his car with one sneer from Clarisse.

Aza merely slapped the back of her half-aunt's head and led their climb, too exhausted to berate the girl any further. With the two's long legs, they quickly crossed the camp border and a large smile crossed her face. They dropped their luggage on the porch of the Big House unceremoniously and entered. Chiron stood over the center table, examining what Aza could faintly make out to be blueprints. As he heard their footsteps, he turned and gave them a large smile, "Ah, Aza-Everett, Clarisse. You two were supposed to arrive earlier, no?"

"We missed our first flight," Aza said through clenched teeth, and she glanced obviously at Clarisse. Chiron nodded in understanding, and his tail flicked, "Of course. Thank you for checking in - go, make yourselves at home. It's good to see you."
"Annabeth-"
"-is in her cabin, impatiently awaiting your arrival."

Aza grinned, and the two instantly grabbed their luggage off the porch and made their way to Cabin Five. The path to avoid buried landmines outside the cabin was second nature to Aza, but it was made far more difficult with luggage - she and Clarisse had to take turns tossing each other duffel bags so the other could make the next jump. But finally they entered the Cabin, and Aza dumped her bag atop the bed in the far left corner.

"Oh, the girls are here," Sherman Yang sneered from his bed, and he momentarily paused shining what appeared to be a new sword. "Great."
"Shut it, Yang," Aza's tone wasn't much kinder, and she baited him with a vicious, toothy smile, "before I break your jaw."

The boy gave her an insincere smile and returned to his weapon-polishing. Aza rolled her eyes, and as she walked out the door of the Cabin she heard another of her half-uncles, Ellis Wakefield loudly announce, "Thank the gods she's gone," and lean his head out the cabin door to make sure the girl had heard him. She heard a loud thwap, and Clarisse's bellow echoed outside the cabin. Aza smiled slightly to herself - the daughter of Ares had been itching to pick a fight with her half-brothers for weeks.