Sera wasn't kidding.

The dining pavilion is amazing. There are tables for every cabin, set underneath an open sky, with plates and goblets everywhere, and a bonfire in the center. After sacrificing my wonderful barbeque to the flames---Please show me who I am I'd prayed quite against my logical side---I was put down with the Hermes table, since I'm still technically unclaimed.

"Ellie, correct?" Someone plops down next to me.

"Jay, correct?" I say, mimicking him. He laughs.

"Spunky. Yeah, I'm Jay. Don't worry, you should get claimed sometime soon, and then you won't have to sit at our crowded table." He elbows me playfully.

"You unclaimed?" Someone new sits across from me, and then a clone of him sits next to number 1.

"I'm Travis." Says number 1.

"I'm Connor." Says number 2.

"Ellie." I say. "Yes, I'm unclaimed."

They beam. "Great!" Travis says. "So you might be Ares! We need someone new to prank."

His brother elbows him.

"Ah! I mean, aaaahh... plank? With?" he laughs.

Jay groans. "I'm sorry about them. Just don't accept any gifts from the Stolls."

"Um. Okay?" I take a bit of meat, the flavor filling my mouth. It vaguely reminds me of a time when I was little, and my mom took me to Billy Sim's for my birthday.

Oh, gods... My mom.

I've been gone for who knows how long. Earlier, I was a little too occupied to let it fully sink in, but now it hits me full-force. My mother doesn't know where I am, what happened to me, or if I'm even alive.

I shove my meat away, suddenly not hungry. "Do you guys have phones? Mine was in my jacket."

They all stop eating. "No. Phones aren't allowed." Jay says. "Monsters use them like the Life360 app for demigods."

I stare at him, but they seem dead serious. "So... what, do I just send my mom a letter? 'Hey, mom, I know I went missing in the middle of the school day, but don't worry---I'm at a camp in New York for people who are half god!'"

Travis snorts. "Good luck with trying to find a way to get the letter to her."

Jay glares at him. "What he means is, Ellie, that there's not really a way to contact anyone. I take it your mom doesn't know about you being a demigod?"

"I didn't even know until a few hours ago." I say helplessly.

"Okay, then..." Jay's eyes light up. "Come with me." He climbs up out of the bench, and I follow.

"Okay. What are we doing?" I ask.

"Iris-Message." Jay says, fishing in his pockets as we walk. Just as we arrive at the Big House, he pulls a solid gold coin out, and walks over to a sparkling fountain, where I can see a faint rainbow sparkling in the mist. "What's your mom's name?"

"Elsa Snow."

"Oh, Iris, goddess of the rainbow... I hope I'm saying this right because I haven't use this in a really long time... please accept this gift and let us see Elsa Snow."

Then he tosses the coin into the mist. Instead of passing through it and plunking into the fountain as I expected, it disappears.

"What the---" I gasp, and Jay smiles.

"One sec. Give it time."

We watch it for a few seconds, and then the mist shimmers into a rainbow, and my mother appears right in front of me. She looks horrible, her blonde hair a rat's nest on her head, and huge violet bags underneath her eyes. She's currently going through a bunch of yellowed-with-age papers, her eyes scanning them quickly.

"Mom!" I yell in shock. She drops whatever she was holding, scrambling to her feet as she stares in awe at me through the rainbow.

"Ellie?" She whispers. "What---how---where---"

"We don't have much time." Jay warns. "Better hurry it up."

"Mom, this is kind of hard to explain." I start quickly, glancing over my shoulder. "But the gist is, I was, um, running again this afternoon... or yesterday... when did I last go to school?" I ask uncertainly.

She continues to stare at me. "Ellie, you've been missing for three days."

My stomach squeezes tightly. Oh.

"Um, anyway, I was running, and I... fainted. I think. And monsters came chasing after me, and Seeder saved me, brought me here, a camp for kids like me... I'm also a demigod."

Everything about mom's face changes. No longer confused, or scared, just calm. "Oh."

I glance at Jay, who looks just as surprised. "Um... you're... not freaking out?" I say slowly.

"I meant to tell you when you turned sixteen." Mom mumbles, more to herself than anything.

Everything inside me screeches to a halt. "You knew?" I practically hiss, my nails digging into my palms.

Mom looks back up at me cooly. "I wanted to try and give you a normal childhood."

"Mom, what the heck! Have you not even noticed my life?" I demand.

She folds her arms. "I figured something like this had happened, so you're lucky I didn't call the police. I'm telling everyone right now that you've transferred to a different school, that your father has reached out to you and you're living with him."

"That doesn't answer my question."

Mom sighs, rubbing her forehead. "Ellie, I'm sorry, but this is what I chose. I wanted you to know what it felt like to be fully human for your childhood."

"Well, guess what? I didn't. Mom, did you ever wonder why you caught me staying up at night so often? Why you tried to prescribe me sleeping pills so often that didn't seem to have any effect?"

Mom's eyes widen in understanding. "You've been having dreams."

"Not just dreams, Mom." I growl, jabbing a finger toward her face, but making sure not to touch the mist. "I---"

I cut short, remembering Jay is still here. "I... I've got to go."

Mom's face becomes alarmed. "Go? Ellie!"

"Camp Half-Blood is supposed to be safe." I say dully. "Don't bother reaching out."

"Wait---there's something you need to kn---" Mom pleads, but I wave my hand through the rainbow, cutting her off.

Jay breathes out sharply. "Wow. And I thought I had problems."

"What's next?" I ask. "Back to supper? Capture-the-flag, like Sera mentioned?"

"Campfire sing along." Jay says, leading me that way as we hear another horn, and a cheer from the campers. A halfhearted one, but still a cheer.

"Sing along? Seriously?" I demand.

"It's where you'll more than likely get claimed." Jay assures me.

My stomach writhes, and I'm suddenly grateful I didn't eat anything. I forgot about that. Hopefully, being claimed isn't as big of a deal as Sera made it out to be. What does claimed even mean, anyway? Will I go through some test? Will my dad come roaring in, screaming "HEY SO YEAH I BROKE THE CODE AS WELL DEAL WITH IT"?

Okay, probably not the last one. 

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I haven't been updating as much. Busy schedule, busy life. Yeah. Sorry. 

BUT! I AM SO PSYCHED TO SEE FROZEN 2 ASAP!!! 

BTW---I have decided that "Show Yourself" is the newest "Let It Go". FIGHT ME.