Revenge

Chapter 18

Beck scraped some of her meal into the fire and prayed silently. I sent you a letter Dad. Please claim me.

She didn't add what she was going to do when she finally was claimed. That part was going to stay secret.

Aaron moved over when Beck reached their table so she could sit next to him.

They ate and talked, the kids around them joining in and bouncing jokes back and forth.

"Nice shot, idiot!" Travis called as he ducked a forkful of mashed potatoes that had been hurled towards him by his brother, at the other end of the table.

"I got closer than you did!" Connor retorted, grabbing a small roll of bread and chucking it at his brother.

"Alright, alright, watch where you're aiming!" Aaron exclaimed, ducking as said bread roll landed inches from his bowl of soup. "Don't make me join this fight, I will end both of you."

"Right." Travis rolled his eyes, but Beck noticed his aim became much more focused on his full brother rather than his half-siblings.

Halfway through the meal, Chiron stood up, grabbing everyone's attention. "As some of you may know, it is Ana Dennis's birthday. She is turning thirteen and therefore must be claimed today. Ana, have you seen any sign?"

The brunette sitting at our table shook her head. "Not so far. Do you think they forgot?"

"They swore on the Styx." Annabeth Chase called. "Someone will remind them of it if they have."

Beck frowned, wondering what had happened on her end that changed it.

"Okay." Ana said uncertainly.

"It is time for us to pray to the gods on Ana's behalf." Chiron said gravely. Everyone at the Hermes table joined hands. Beck glanced at the tables around her and saw that all of them had done the same.

"Oh gods of Olympus, hear our prayer as we speak for a young girl today. You have made a promise to claim all of your children by the age of 13, and tonight we call upon you to keep that promise. Ana Dennis stands in our midst, on the threshold of her teenage years. Show her who her parent is so she may move to her proper cabin and take her place among her siblings." Chiron said loudly.

"Gods of Olympus, hear our prayer." The campers echoed.

Ana looked up to the sky. "Mother, if you can hear me, please send a sign. I want to know my siblings."

We sat in silence, waiting.

"She's glowing!" Someone shouted.

Sure enough, Ana had been surrounded by a pink glow. Her hair, which had been in a ponytail, curled itself and cascaded down her shoulders. Her jeans and t-shirt were replaced by a flouncy dress with an extremely low cut neckline.

Chiron motioned for the girl to come over to him. She brushed her bangs out of her face awkwardly and tried to adjust her shirt, but it stayed stubbornly where it was.

"All hail Ana Dennis, daughter of Aphrodite."

Everyone got up from their tables and bowed to the newest member of the Aphrodite cabin. Piper was the first one to stand, walking over to her new half-sister and hugging her. The rest of her siblings joined in until Ana was surrounded by a mob.

"What am I wearing?" She finally asked once they had all gotten through with welcoming her.

"That's Mom's way of claiming. You can't take it off but it will fade sooner or later. You can change your clothes, don't worry." Piper promised her.

"I don't like it." Ana said.

"I didn't either. You just have to bear it. We'll help you along the way."

Lacy, a small blonde daughter of Aphrodite, was cooing over Ana's hair. "Why would you want to get rid of this?"

Ana shrugged. "I just don't like it. I feel like everyone's looking at me."

"Well you just got claimed, of course everyone's looking at you." One of the Aphrodite boys said.

"So what do you think?" Aaron turned to Beck and asked. "This is your first claiming."

"Are they all that over the top?" She replied.

"Not really. Aphrodite just feels the need to show off. Most of the time it's just the god or goddess's symbol of power..." His gaze drifted upward, above Beck's head, and his eyes went wide. "Sort of like that...."

"Look!" Someone shouted. Beck turned to see where they were pointing and found that their attention was focused on her.

"What the Hades are they looking at?" She asked Aaron. He just shook his head and backed up, kneeling in front of her.

Beck frowned, then took a chance and looked up.

A swirling green hologram floated above her head. It was hard to tell what it looked like from her point of view, but it looked like a trident.

Beck's heart started beating faster.

Could this have gotten any worse? The one god that she'd hoped wasn't her father. The one god!

"It would seem we have two demigods to move tonight." Chiron said loudly.

People all around Beck began to kneel, bowing to their newly claimed camp-mate.

"All hail Beck Gibbson, daughter of Poseidon."