Jade

3. Aphrodite's Daughter

Jade Pov:

She hugged Maria, who looked on the verge of tears.

"Don't cry. I'll see you again." She looked doubtful but nodded.

"Well, I should be going." Jade saw Maria walk up the hill and disappear over the ridge. She turned back to the camp and walked towards Percy and Annabeth, who were walking to a big building that stood above the rest.

"Where are we going?"

"Dinner." Annabeth said as they walked through the doors. Jade was engulfed in the many smells from the room. Everyone was serving themselves so she got in line and piled food onto a plate. She hadn't realized how hungry she was, she hadn't eaten anything since yesterday. She was about to sit down when Percy nudged her. 

"Ow! Hey!" She glared at him.

"You can't eat yet."

"Oh yeah? And why not?"

"Because you need to put some in the fire as an offering to the gods." The offering thing didn't surprise her. Sure it was weird but she was too tired to be any more confused for the day.

"Right. Ok." She walked up to a large fire near one of the walls. "Ok." She thought to herself. "I can't believe I'm doing this. Hi mom, or dad... Um... I would really appreciate it if you would claim me. I know you have no reason to, you clearly gave me up for a reason and I'm not the kind of kid anyone would want to claim, but I would really like it if you would." She sniffed a little as she shovelled a little lamb and some green beans in the fire.

She got up and turned to sit down at a table but had no idea where to sit. Everyone seemed to have assigned seats. She looked to Percy who gestured for her to join him. She sat down at the empty table next to Percy.

"Why are we sitting at an empty table?"

"Everyone has to sit at tables that go with their cabin. Right now you're living with me so you get to sit here."

"Lucky me." She said sarcastically as she took a big bite of the food and looked around the room. "Why is everyone staring at us?"

"I'm kind of a celebrity around here." He smirked smugly and she rolled her eyes. "It's just weird that you're sitting here with me. People don't really like me."

"Well thank you for sticking me in the middle of your problems." He smiled a little but kept looking down at his plate.

Suddenly everyone around started gasping and pointing at her. He noticed and looked up at her. She saw his eyes widen and his jaw drop a little.

"What?" She looked up and a dove was hovering over her head. She realized her whole body was glowing pink and her clothes were replaced with a gorgeous red dress. She could feel pounds of makeup on her face and her hair was tied into a bun. "What is that."

"You're being claimed." She looked at him, excited.

"By who?"

"Aphrodite." The dove disappeared and everyone went back to their food, whispering. She looked at her reflecting in a tray and saw herself with a lot of makeup, but it looked good. She looked beautiful.

"I'm Aphrodite's daughter." She said, more to herself.

"Yeah."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you can finish dinner here but afterwards you will spend the night in the Aphrodite cabin." Jade wasn't sure how to react. She had just been claimed but she still felt like she was missing something.

Her dad was mortal but he still gave her up. She knew one of her parents had given her up from the beginning, but now it felt more real. Soon dinner was over and she walked with Percy to the Aphrodite cabin.