Luke's POV

I didn't mention Anna's stare to Brianna or Lakyn, not wanting to scare either girl. I did, however, manage to accompany Brianna to the train station so Anna couldn't get to her while under my watch. My luck, Anna would attack Brianna as soon as she left my company, and I'd get yelled at by Chiron. When we saw her safely onto her train, Lakyn and I headed into the woods near the station, found a clearing, and whistled for the pegasi. I heard the beating of wings a few minutes later, and glanced up. A gray pegasus, accompanied by a golden-brown one, flew through the sky and landed in front of us. We rode silently back to camp. When we made it back to camp, Chiron had wanted to make sure that we were still in one piece. We went to the Big House, and as soon as I walked through the door, Annabeth jumped on me.
"You're back!" she said happily. I caught her and pretended to stagger backwards a little, even though I could still hold her without feeling that she was too heavy.
"You're getting big," I said, smiling.
"Yeah, yeah," Mr. D said from where he was sitting at the corner table. There was a Diet Coke sitting in front of him as usual, and he was dressed in a loud Hawaiian shirt which was completely normal. Yes, you read that right. Mr. D is actually the god of wine, Dionysus. Names have power, especially when you're a demigod like I am. Therefore, his name got shortened to Mr. D. He got sent here for a punishment because he was chasing an off-limits wood nymph on Olympus. To make it worse, Zeus put him on probation, so he can't drink wine. I guess he found a passion for Diet Coke. He hates all of us, and having no wine makes Mr. D's punishment more like punishment for us. I don't really understand his obsession with Hawaiian shirts, though.
"That's all very touching, however I have a camp to run, and to have to put up with these displays of affection is more than I need," Mr. D continued. I thought about mentioning the fact that Chiron ran the camp more than Mr. D did, but decided against it. You don't sass a god unless you want to end up as a small rodent. Then, Chiron came down the stairs, ending my 'conversation' with Mr. D. Evidently he caught the end of Mr. D's rant, because Chiron said,"If I may say so, don't you have strawberry field to look after?" We grow strawberry plants because it helps with the camp's funds. It's also a good cover for mortals that happen to stray this far. Plus, plants grow like crazy around Mr. D. I suppose he holds influence over plants that grow on vines, wine being made from grapes, which grow on vines. Mr. D gave a loud sigh, heaved himself up from the chair, and headed out the door, letting it close behind him with a loud BANG! I set Annabeth down, and looked at Chiron, who seemed to have a never ending reservoir of patience.
"Well, I can see that you two have made it back safely," he stated.
"Yeah. The last I saw, Brianna was fine," I said.
"We think that there may have been a monster," Lakyn said. Chiron frowned.
"What did she say her name was?" he asked.
"Anna," I said. "Anna Reding. Tall, thin, platinum blonde, piercing swamp green eyes, thinks she's popular, believes that she owns the school."
"General mean girl," Lakyn added.
I looked for a spark of recognition in his eyes, but there was none.
"Well, I'll have to keep a close eye on her apartment. However, I'm sure that it may have just been a coincidence. You both must be tired, so why don't you go rest before dinner?" Chiron suggested. Lakyn nodded tiredly. We both turned to go. I realized Annabeth was following me to my cabin, 11.
"Why don't you go train, or something," I asked. She shrugged.
"Don't really feel like it," she responded. I sighed, but didn't answer. I walked in the door, and it felt good to be home, even if I did resent Hermes for leaving me. It seemed messier than before I left for school, which most likely meant we got more demigods. That was entirely possible. See, all of the demigods at camp were grouped into their parent's cabin. Here's a rundown:
1. Zeus (empty, honorary, Thalia's a tree, remember?)
2. Hera (empty, honorary, as she's the goddess of marriage, and is faithful to her husband)
3. Poseidon (empty, honorary, no kids, which is strange, considering that he and Zeus were the ones having all the kids in the old days)
4. Demeter: Head Counselor-Katie Gardner (kids, good with plants)
5. Ares: Head Counselor-Clarisse La Rue (kids, good with weapons, very temperamental, like their father-no offense to Lord Ares)
6. Athena: Head Counselor-Annabeth Chase (kids, great strategists, overly smart-don't tell Annabeth I said that, she'll have my head)
7. Apollo: Head Counselor-Lee Fletcher (kids, spot-on archers, healers)
8. Artemis: Head Counselor-whoever the Lieutenant is when they visit (empty, unless the Hunters of Artemis are here, mostly honorary, as she's a virgin goddess)
9. Hephaestus: Head Counselor-Charles Beckendorf (kids, skilled craftsmen, good mechanics)
10. Aphrodite: Head Counselor-Silena Beauregard (kids, beautiful\handsome, not really fighters-don't tell Lakyn I said this, but she and her sister Silena don't fit here)
11. Hermes: Head Counselor-Yours Truly, Luke Castellan (kids, good with money, some pranksters and\or pickpockets-namely my half siblings, Travis and Connor Stoll)
12. Dionysus: Head Counselors-Castor and Pollux (two kids, good with plants like Demeter kids)
So yeah. Twelve cabins, and of all of them, mine is the only overcrowded one. As if I don't have enough to deal with, having siblings such as Travis and Connor, I have to make sure all of the new campers are comfortable and have a spot to sleep. See, since my dad, Hermes, is the patron of anyone who travels, we take any unclaimed demigods. The Olympians don't always remember us, so that leads to not being claimed, which leads to an overcrowded cabin. Since I've been here for about four years, I've gotten used to it, but it would still be nice to have a little room. I carefully stepped over sleeping bags and stuff that a lot of campers just let lay around.
"Hey," I heard a familiar voice say. I glanced up from the labyrinth that I was navigating, and saw Travis.
"Hi," I said. "How many?" He knew what I meant by that. I'd asked how many had come, and how many had been claimed.
"Fifteen come, about zero gone," he responded glumly. "At least there's more people for me to prank that don't know me well enough to try and kill me after the prank."
I rolled my eyes. "You know the only reason that Clarisse hasn't killed you yet is because I always manage to direct her attention elsewhere." He shrugged.
"True," Travis responded. "Anyhow, how was school?"
"Torture, as usual," I said. "I barely survived."
"Oh, come on!" Annabeth said from the doorway. "School can't be that bad."
I looked at her. "Easy for you to say. You're a daughter of Athena.
She sighed, and said, "Travis, would you come train with me?"
"Sure," he said. "Guess I'll see you for dinner, Luke?" I nodded, heading for my bunk, which was in the corner of the room. I laid down, and fell asleep almost instantly.