Percy Jackson's Sister

Deadly Camp? I'm in.

   Meeting Chiron was not what I expected. We walked in and the house was normal enough.

"Welcome," Travis said, "to the Big House. The couch is over there if you want to sit and- Sweet! Cookies!" He took one and stuffed it in his mouth. I could tell he was ADHD too. Yup, I would fit right in.

"Anyway," he continued, "over there are some old arcade games and that wheelchair over there is Chiron's which means-"

"The cookies are for the new half bloods, Travis." Said a new voice.

"-that he must be close." Travis finished. "Sorry, Chiron." Though he didn't look too sorry. When the man came in I expected... well, a man. First I focused on his face. He had brown curly hair and a beard to match it. He looked to be about in his late 30's but his eyes said otherwise. His deep brown eyes looked like ha had thousands of years of knowledge that I just had to learn. They had a glint to them as if, even though they had plenty knowledge, they wanted more. I knew immediately he was a teacher. But not one of those teachers that hate their job. No, he was different. He actually cared.

I kept looking. He had a torso of a man but where the bottom part of his body should've been there was a horse's end. It took me a while to process where his human flesh and skin met his white horse fur.

   I must've been staring because he said "I am Chiron, the centaur. Let me compact myself."

   He backed his horse rear end into the wheelchair. Before I could tell him the chair might be a little too small, his horse body folded up. In seconds, there sat Chiron, a regular man in a wheelchair.

    "What was that?!" I demanded.

   "Magic." Chiron answered. The way he said it, all seriously, let me know he wasn't kidding. This was actual magic.

   "Come, dear." He said. "Sit. Have a cookie."

  "Okay!" Travis grinned. He sat and had another cookie. Chiron gave me a look like What am I going to do with him? and gestured for me to sit.

   Travis passed me a cookie. I took a bite. Dang, they were good. And my favorite too, chocolate chip.

   "What is your name, child?" Chiron asked.

  "Cassidy Malloy." I answered.

    "She said it's cool for me to call her whatever, right Casador?" Travis said.

   "Regretting my answer now but yes." I said rolling my eyes.

   "Very well." Chiron said. "Let us start by explaining who you are, I don't have much time."

   "I know who I am. I'm Cassidy Malloy, born in Texas, moved to New York when I was small. Had horrible foster parents not much better than the last, or the ones before that, or the ones before that. I'm dyslexic. I'm ADHD. That doesn't mean I'm stupid or slow. I don't know what I'm doing here but I want to find out. I'm thirteen years old and have no family and he-" I pointed to Travis "-is the closest thing I currently have to a friend. But since all of that, apparently, means nothing to you, please, tell me who I am." I crossed my arms and stared expectantly at him. I didn't want to be rude but I was tired of being confused. I wanted answers.

  "Chiron took a deep breath. "Have you heard of the Greek gods?"

Well that has nothing to do with anything I thought.

  "Yeah." I said. "Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Hera, those people?"

   I heard thunder in the distance which was weird since there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

   "Careful, Malloy." Travis said.

  "Names have power, my dear." Chiron said. "You can't just be throwing them around like that."

   "Oh. Sorry." Even though I wasn't exactly sure what I was sorry about. "But what do they have to do with me?"

"Do you know of the Greek stories." Chiron asked. "The Greek heroes."

"You mean the demigods? Yeah, I know some of them." I said.

"Well, then you are aware that one of their parents is mortal and the other a god." Chiron paused. "You are a demigod."

That time I was sure I heard wrong. But the way they were both looking at me told me I hadn't. I was a demigod.

I tried to process that. How could my dad be a god. That's not possible. There's nothing godly about me. Were they even around anymore? What were they doing in the U.S.?

"I know it's hard to process." Chiron said.

"And now what?" I said. "Are you the original Chiron from the stories?"

Travis and Chiron exchanged looks.

"Great." I muttered. "I have an immortal horse teacher." I glared at them expectantly.

"Well?" I asked. "Who's my godly father?"

"Well, that's the thing, Cassidy." Travis said. "We don't know until you get claimed. And we don't know how long that will take."

Chiron was glaring at my bracelet. Was it just me or did he look nervous?

"Where did you get that bracelet?" Chiron asked.

"My dad, okay!" I snapped. "I got it from a father I've never met and just now find out is a Greek god."

It wasn't my intention to seem rude. Chiron seemed nice, at least compared to all the other adults I met. But I was tired of getting asked questions and not getting much answers. I just wanted to go home. Just one problem, I had no home. I tried to fight the feeling but I had a tiny hope this could be my home.

"Interesting." Chiron said. He held out his hand. "May I?"

I never let anyone touch my bracelet but I reluctantly handed it over.

He played with the sea shell charm. He looked intensely at the bracelet. I had been wearing that bracelet since I was three but at that moment I noticed something I never had before. Inside the hoop, there was an aperture. Chiron tugged on it, breaking off the charm.

Only in that moment did I realize why mom had said the bracelet would protect me. Instead of holding a bracelet, Chiron now held a sword. The blade was about 3 feet long and made of the same bronze as my charm. The hilt looked a bit uncomfortable in Chiron's hands but I knew it would fit perfectly in mine. I was about to ask how that just happened but just then a camper burst in, worry visible on his face.

"Chiron!" He said. "We have border activity."

His blue eyes shone with concern and his blonde hair was scruffy. He looked about my age. Maybe a little older.

Looking into Chiron's eyes, he seemed to age about 50 years.

"Take this." He said, handing me my sword/bracelet, his voice grim. "You'll need it."