Renewed

'*Please note that I do not own the rights to the characters in this fan fiction. Credit and ownership goes to Rick Riordan.*

They had decided to take her out that night. She knew that it was the last time they would go out for a while. Her father wasn't a very stay at home kinda guy. He worked a lot and only occasionally came home but when she needed something, he always provided. Her mom? She didn't know her. They didn't talk about her at all. She had no other siblings. It was just her, her dad and her step mom. Most people, when they think of  a step mom, they think of Cinderella, poor soul. It wasn't the case her. Stephanie was a gorgeous young woman who cared a lot about her and her father. Unfortunately, she also traveled for work but she was off every spring for a few months so she would hang out, mostly with Sarah. Tonight, they would both leave again.

They went to a Karaoke Lounge. It was kinda odd because normally, her parents liked the finer things in life so she wondered why they had chosen this place. She hoped that they didn't expect her to go up on stage because that was not going to happen. This was a place geared toward kids ages 14 to 20 which was a nice idea. Maybe they wanted me to make friends and have some place to hang out when they were gone. This wasn't half bad. The Lounge was loud and the people up on stage seemed to be having a wonderful time although I would advise them not to quit school just yet...

They were having a nice meal, listening to people try to sing songs that they barely knew and talking about the months to come. Apparently her parents wanted her to go work at some sort of a strawberry farm whenever school was out and on weekends. She wasn't old enough to hold a job yet and she really didn't need the money. Maybe they just didn't like her being alone all summer. They made her promise she would at least go check it out. They gave her the coordinates. She stared at the piece of paper and asked:

"What is this supposed to mean? You could give me an address...it would be much easier to find."

"Don't worry Sarah, you'll find it."

On stage, a boy started singing. The whole place was silent as they listened to his beautiful voice. Sarah was totally enthralled by this boy's voice. She glanced at her dad as she was going to say something about it and saw him roll his eyes. Apparently he didn't like the boy much. I wondered why. Out on the street,there seemed to be some sort of a commotion. Horns were blaring and people were screaming. She turned and to see what was going on people were running and down the walkway and behind them some sort of crows were dive bombing them. That was odd, birds usually didn't behave that way. Another sound behind her caught her attention when the boy on the stage dropped the mic and ran for the door right into trouble. That seemed odd but even more odd was the fact that her parents were gone. All that was left was a daisy on the table, the note and some money. They didn't even say goodbye. Typical.

She grabbed everything and stuffed it in her pocket and put the flower through the elastic holding back her long, thick black hair. Curiosity got the best of her and she followed the boy out. The handsome young man of about 15 was running after the birds. He screeched so loud, she stopped and covered her ears. For such a good singer, you wouldn't expect such a sound to come from him. The birds turned, their attention now focused on the young man. From his backpack, he pulled something out. At first, she wondered why he was pulling a clarinet out but her vision blurred for a second and then it looked like the guy actually had a bow. The back pack was not a back pack, it was a quiver full of arrows. How could that be? She just stood there and watched in amazement. He started shooting arrows at the birds who dive bombed him. Some of them noticed me and started passing the boy and coming my way. I froze in fear. I did not know what to do. The boy kept shooting at them and yelled at me:

"Take cover!!"

His voice pulled me back into action and I ran for the nearest store and ducked in as some of the birds started hitting the door and windows trying to get in. The window cracked. She backed away from the cracked window. She didn't understand what was going on. The boy who had been singing, his backpack had changed into a quiver. Normal ravens were dive bombing people transforming into black birds screeching with razor shard blades as feathers. If that boy hadn't addressed her, she would have thought she was going crazy. She had to find some sort of weapon, in case those weaponized ravens. She was much less concerned with the boy hurting her but maybe he needed help. She saw a broom next to the door. The clerk was cowering behind a counter. She grabbed an umbrella because...why not?

"May I?" she asked the clerk and and showed him a 20$ bill. The clerk nodded. She put the money on the counter, grabbed the wooden broom handle and broke it over her knee. She then took off the broom part, took a deep breath and ran out of the store.

The razor ravens, that's what I was going to call them, dive bombed me but I opened my puny umbrella and their beaks got stuck in the fabric. This was not going to work for very long but it was a start. When the umbrella became useless, I used my sticks like a baseball bat. When I hit the ravens on the side, they shattered into pieces and turned into dust. A frontal hit would just make them mad. She sustained some cuts to her arms but soon, the boy and I had slain the whole group of hellish birds. The boy shouldered his quiver and bow and walked over to me calmly.

"What in the world were those?" I asked.

"Crazy birds...probably some sort of rabies for birds." he answered.

"Right, cause birds get rabies...and their wings turn into razor sharp blades." I answered.

"Oh, ummm, you saw that."

"How could I not? And you go to a karaoke lounge with your bow and quiver? What's up with that?"

"Well, ummm," he answered nervously, "I guess I should explain, seeing the company you keep, it is surprising you don't know by now."

"Excuse me? The company I keep? And how would you know who I hang out with?" I asked incredulously.

"I just saw you with Hades and Persephone so I assumed you knew about us."

"What are you talking about? That was my dad and my step mom...and who, pray tell, are you? Apollo?"

The boy laughed. " Actually, you aren't so far off...my name is Zander and I am a son of Apollo, " he smiled and bowed dramatically.

"Great, your delusional..well, thanks for the warning. I'll be on my way now." She started walking away. Zander ran up to her.

"Listen, I'm not delusional. I really am a son of Apollo and I would bet my bottom you are a daughter of Hades, princess of the Underworld."

"What did you just call me?", she said incredulously. "The name is Sarah and I am not a Princess."

"I beg to differ," said Zander. "Where are you off to?"

"Home, thank you very much and no, you can't come."

"I'm heading home too. Wanna come with? There are a lot of kids like us there. It's called camp half blood. Prove me wrong. If you aren't a demigod, you won't be able to make it across the gates."

"You are weird, you know that, right?"

A little voice in my head told me to go check it out, it might be fun to be around other kids. Plus, her parents had left unexpectedly and she had nothing better to do.

"So? What do you say? Humour the weirdo?"

"Sure, why not? I've got nothing better to do."

"Cool, I can't wait to see the look on the other kids' faces when you get claimed by Hades." He smirks.

"Whatever, Sunshine..."

He signaled a cab over and gave directions to go a farm on Long Island. I was a bit surprised but may it was a coincidence. Her parents had seemed quite certain I would find my way there and and had rolled his eyes at Zander when he was on stage. Nah, too weird...it couldn't be. She watched him as he looked out the window. He was a very handsome boy. Probably 14-15 years old. Dark curly brown hair, darker skin, dark brown eyes. His movements were graceful. When he turned to look at her, she asked:

"Have you ever seen those cray ravens before? "

"Once in a while the other kids come back from their...umm...field trips and tell us about them but this was the first time for me."

"Oh. How did you learn archery? You are very good."

He smiled a little." It came naturally. You'll learn at camp but I have a feeling your talents will lie elsewhere."

"Alright be cryptic. I thought we were going to your home?"

"We are. I live at camp."

"Are you taking me to a cult cause if you are, I'm going to scream them then beat you with my super expensive broken broom handle."

He laughs again. " It's not a cult."

The can pulled over next to an open field. "We're here."

Zander pulled out some cash and paid the man and got out of the cab. She did the same. There was no farm. Just a grassy hill with a tree and a forest a ways further. Zander started walking up the hill.

" You coming princess?"

"Don't call me Princess. I have a name. It's Sarah. There is no farm or camp here. "

"You'll see."

"Whatever..."

She took her phone and checked google maps. It appeared as a green area, a state park. Zander looked back.

" Hey, no electronic devices, they attract monsters!" He took the phone and shut it down, then he took the battery out and gave her the phone back. She realised that this state park was right next to the strawberry farm her parents wanted her to go to but she kept quiet and started walking in the correct direction. Zander seemed a little surprised that she knew the way but he quickly followed. When they got to the gates, she stopped and stared at the sign. It was gibberish, until the letters starting making sense. The sign read Camp Half blood.

"Oh god, it is a cult."

"No it's not. Come on Princess. I'll take you to the Big House."

"Let me guess...I get to see the Big Kahuna, your leader?"

Zander rolled his eyes and strode in. She quickly followed. Her father wanted her to come here, she would have to give it a shot if she didn't want to disappoint him and coming with a tour guide would be easier than her doing this on her own. They followed the path until they came upon a small city of beautiful Temples. All of them were different except for four at the end of the U shaped encampment. Some were buzzing with activity, others were quiet. When she looked to her left, she saw a big baby blue farm house and on the porch stood a horse...with a man's torso and head. He smiled at her.

"You drugged me! What the hell Zander!!"

Zander laughed. " I did not such thing. That is Chiron, he is a Centaur and he is camp director with Mr. D."

It felt like I walked into another world. There were children in armour carrying swords everywhere. Some people were half animals like with horns growing out of their heads and weird legs and hoofs, then there was the horse man, Chiron, on the balcony of a farm house. Okay. This was all a dream so what's the harm. Might as well go say hi, I thought to myself. I walked up the hill watching the centaur as I came closer. My imagination is much more developed than I thought. He greeted me with a warm smile and invited me inside. He ducked his human half as the crossed the threshold then folded himself into a wheelchair. That was an amazing sight to behold. Zander had followed me. He seemed a little surprised.

"You are taking this in pretty well, I'm impressed," said Zander.

"I'm impressed too. I have more imagination than I thought."

Zander gave me a puzzled look, I just shook my head.I sat on the couch as directed by Chiron.

" Hello and Welcome to Camp Half blood. I am also rather impressed by your calm demeanour. As you probably already know, you are a demigod, this means that one of your parents is a God.Eventually, you will be claimed by said parent but, in the meantime, we will train you to become a warrior and to defend yourself against the monsters that will inevitably attack you. Do you understand?"

"I understand the words but they make no sense. How do you know I am a "demigod"? I made quotation marks with my fingers around the word demigod.

"If you weren't, you wouldn't have made it through the gate. Only children of gods can enter camp half blood. Your godly parent will likely claim you within a few days but in the meantime, you can bunk at the Hermes cabin."

"Mhm, so Hermes, messenger god...alright then. How does one go about getting claimed and when can I go home? "

"Usually your parent just decides to say hey, this one is mine and then you get a temporary blessing from them." Zander explained.I looked at him in disbelief, this dream was way too elaborate.

" Okay, this is all too weird.I'm just gonna go." I stood up and turned toward the doorway to leave. That is when I saw my dad in the doorway.

"Oh great...do I really have to?" I pleaded.

"Yes" my dad replied.

Zander was grinning and Chiron looked a little surprised.

Chiron asked cautiously, "Lord Hades, do you claim this child as your own?"

" Hades? God of the underworld? Okay, I'm dreaming, Right?"

" No you are not dreaming and yes, that is who I am,' he answered me first then turned to Chiron. "Yes. Sarah is my daughter. I thought it would be best to claim without the umm blessing cause I wouldn't want her to raise the dead like Nico did... and you Sunshine boy, will stay away from her, understood?"

"Yes sir," replied Zander.

"Oh come on dad! I can hang out with whoever I want. You can't stop me."

"That is where you are wrong."

Chiron and Zander both looked stunned at this normal exchange between father and daughter while I just stared my dad down waiting for him to say April fools or for me to simply wake up.

"Sarah, this is no joke and you are fully awake. I am Hades God of the Underworld and you are my daughter. My wife, Persephone, your step-mom, wanted to be here for this moment but I have a feeling, when you finally believe that this is true, that it would be best we stay away. Nico should be here shortly. He will help make sense of this."

I just stared and searched his eyes for that playful look he gave me when we were playing when I was a kid. He looked dead serious. Behind him, a familiar face appeared. Nico just leaned against the doorway and waited.

"Umm, hey Nico. Nice to see you again."

" Hey sis." He turned to my dad and said, "you did tell her right?"

Hades? Dad...kinda gave an impatient look before excusing himself. "The underworld does not manage itself. Behave Sarah and Nico, no raising the dead just to show off." Then he literally disappeared. Like poof. Dad is gone.

I stared at the spot where he had been standing, slack jawed. Nico's laughter brought me back to reality.

" What the hell?" I said. Everyone cringed at my wording.

"What?"

" Nothing..." replied Zander.

"So, what is this about raising the dead? You've done this before Nico?"

"Umm, yeah, a few times. Come on, I'll show you to our cabin." Nico placed his arm around my shoulder and tried for a smile. while he was trying to guide me out of the living room, I stopped abruptly.

"Wait. You're my brother? And you never even bothered to say anything?"

I'll explain later", he replied as he kept trying to push me through the door. I decided to let him. I always liked the guy and if he was my brother, maybe I should just follow him and listen. He turned his head, without missing a step and he said to Zander, "tell Will, I'll drop by tomorrow, okay?"

All of a sudden, shadows became darker around me and started moving. I felt a moment of panic as the darkness engulfed me and when I could finally see again, I was slightly light headed and we were standing in what looked like a funeral home.

"What is this supposed to be?" I asked

"People think we enjoy living in the dark. I barely stay here so I don't really care but if you hate the black and red velvet as much as I do, we can always change the decor."

Quit stalling and explain...brother." I said annoyed. I sat on the edge of a scary and depressing looking bed.

"OK, well, here it is. So, we are demigods. We have one mortal parent and a godly parent, so does everyone at this camp. Our dad happens to be Hades." Seeing the look on my face he quickly added,"I mean, it could be much worse, our dad could be Ares." "So having the god of the underworld as a godly parent is actually desirable ?" "I think so. Although he is not around as much as I would have liked him to be, we are always well taken care of and he is much more present and involved than the other gods My only issue is with Persephone. She doesn't like me much."

"Okay,alright, so...assuming this is real and I am not dreaming, why are we here and why hasn't anyone mentioned this to me before?" She looked at him meaningfully.

"I have known you for what? 4 years and you never thought to mention that we are demigods and that you are my brother?" He looked at her sheepishly.

"I really wanted to but dad said no and when a god says no, you listen. If you learn anything with experience, it is this and the fact that you NEVER swear on the River Styx."

"Whatever that mean..." I replied. He tossed her a quick guide to being a Greek demigod called Camp Half Blood Confidential and told her to read it before tomorrow morning. He then walked across the cabin and laid down on a bed. There were two more bed in the cabin and I looked at them wondering if I had more siblings I didn't know of. I figured that would be a question for tomorrow. I opened the book and started reading and I laughed.

Nico snored softly in his cot. It was past midnight and I still couldn't sleep. I was used to the noise of New York, the distant sirens, the sound of traffic and people yelling, Here, all I could hear was Nico snoring and the chirping of crickets.It was going to take some getting used to. I just laid there thinking. My dad is Hades. The weird blue dude with the flaming hair in the animated series Hercules. No wonder my dad grumbled when I watched it on Disney Plus. Eventually, I did fall asleep. I woke up to some knocking on the door.

"Rise and Shine Sunshine!"

Nico groaned.

"Sunshine?"

"Shut up."

"Okay, Prince of the Underworld"

"Really?"

"Who is that?"

He walks over to the door and opens it. On the other side is a 15 year old gorgeous blond boy of around 15 with a dazzling smile. With him is equally dazzling Zander.

"This is Will, my boyfriend and you know Zander."

Written by: Mia Pallas

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