Elemental

A New Beginning

I wake up in...the Hospital Wing? What happened?

Beth walks in. "Good, you're awake," she announces plaintively. Tiana comes in, too, even though I barely know her. And yet, no sooner has the thought crossed my mind than I realize I know her much better than I thought.

"Where's Juliana?" I ask immediately, then notice their discomfort.

Beth and Tiana look uncomfortable and I see how red their eyes are. "Mia," Beth begins. "I'm sorry. We were heading back to the Great Hall—we managed to escape, somehow. I don't know what happened. Maybe Mom jumped in. I don't know. At that point, you had been Stunned about fifteen times and I was carrying you over my shoulder—I think Voldemort" (note that she can say the name) "told the Death Eaters to Stun you, somehow, got inside their heads. It's a miracle you're even awake right now. Harry Potter had just died—at least, that's what everyone thought—and Voldemort was displaying his body. Whole evil speech that I don't need to get into. Everyone was heading over to get a good look, but we were too far away to see. We didn't even know what had happened, and the Death Eaters were still out there. One of them—he was tiny. He looked like he could be your age, even. And he pulled out his wand. He was aiming for you, but Juliana stepped in front of him, and..."

"Oh." I can't think of anything else to say. Juliana...dead. And it's all because of me. It must have been Ralph who did it. Voldemort in miniature—yet somehow, he's worse. I shudder and hope he'll be sent to Azkaban. If anyone deserves it, it's him.

Tears are streaming silently down my face. I try to communicate with Juliana, in some sort of desperate hope. No such luck. I wonder where she is. Elysium, I hope. If anyone deserves it, she does.

Beth and Tiana stay with me. Finally, Tiana says, "Let's go to the Great Hall. I think dinner is starting." No one is hungry, but we go anyway. It feels good to just talk about something else. I meet Dana, a Gryffindor second-year, and learn that she's a half-blood, in both respects. Her mother died in the same way as my father—she read about it in the Prophet, though, which can't have made it any better—and her father "ran away." She has nowhere else to go, so I offer to take her with us to Camp Half-Blood. She'll figure it out there—I don't feel up to explaining that her dad is a mythical being.

"Sorry your friend," she says, realizing who I am.

I don't respond.

The next day, we leave for Camp Half-Blood. Beth drives us to the airport—we've decided to avoid magic as much as possible. It's risky, especially since we don't know who Dana's dad is, but we turn out okay.

"Hello," Chiron says to us as we arrive. Then he addresses Tiana and Dana. "I don't believe we've met?"

"I'm Tiana, a friend of Beth's," says Tiana, who is used to centaurs, as a wizard.

"Um...Dana." My new friend fidgets uncomfortable.

"Wonderful," says Chiron. The chances of a demigod stumbling on another demigod are beyond slim. "All right, Dana, Beth can show you to your cabin. Tiana—Alex will show you where to go." A boy who I hadn't noticed until now waved. Then Chiron adds, "Mia, could you stay here for a moment?"

"Of course," I reply, hoping for something I can't quite figure out.

"Mia," Chiron begins, "I know you've had a...busy...week, but...I need you to go on a quest. Not to lead one. I know this is highly unusual, but these are different circumstances. No prophecy this time, either."

That's odd. I don't think there's ever been a quest without a prophecy. "What, exactly, would I be doing?" I ask, fairly suspicious. On impulse, I scan his mind, but nothing seems out of sorts.

"Well, Apollo has been kidnapped."

Well, that can't be good. "By who?"

"We don't know. We suspect Nyx, based only on logic."

The god of the sun, kidnapped by night. It makes sense. "I'd better tell Beth and Tiana."

"Go right ahead."

Running, though I couldn't tell you why, I burst into the Athena cabin. "Beth, Tiana, can I talk to you?"

They follow me outside. "I'm going on a quest," I explain. "Apollo's been kidnapped. It's highly unusual, but there's no prophecy or anything this time. At least, that's what Chiron told me," I add.

Beth nods in understanding. "I wonder who else is going."

Bella bursts out into the hall. "I heard about the quest," she says. "Congrats. By the way, it's going to be Percy and this new Apollo kid, Max, on the quest with you. Percy's leading."

Great, just what I need in my life—teenage boys who act younger than me.

Beth pretends to be excited. "You get to be with Percy Jackson? That's so cool!"

I shrug. "I'll be the little kid sitting out on the sidelines, and I don't really feel like risking my life again."

She understands. She always understands. "I know. I don't really want you go, but what choice do you have?"

None, as always.