Walk With the Shadows [ Percy Jackson OC ]

FIFTY-FOUR | Kitty

PLAYING POKER ALONE sucked. As Kitty sat on the front porch of the Big House shuffling the same blue deck of cards over and over and over, she found herself actually wishing Mr. D would get back from Olympus faster. That was a thought she'd never expected to have.

But no, he was occupied with some stupid council for the Olympians. Chiron and Alex had said something about Zeus freaking out over demigods. There were talks of barring demigods access going forward. Kitty hoped that had more to down with Luke stealing the Master Bolt and less to do with her stealing a handful of candy on her way out after Apollo's attempt to restore her memory.

She still had gaps. Kitty couldn't remember much about their trip in the Underworld. She couldn't remember Baltimore, though according to Alex, she'd loved the Aquarium. Apparently they'd been to Disney? Honestly she was a little crushed that all she remembered of that was the fireworks.

Alex had told her what he could. But he was always busy these days. The new campers arriving every few days loved him. They didn't always love his once a week, early morning calisthenics though.

Kitty liked those more than struggling with painting pumpkins. Will Solace liked to host that in the mornings. It brought comfort to kids like Harley who were still prime trick or treating age. Most mortal kids would be off buying a new cool Halloween costume and pumpkin carving set this close to the end of October. The only shopping kids here could do was through Kitty.

One thing she hadn't forgotten how to do was disobey dumb rules. The most fun she had these days was sneaking out of camp right out from under the nose of the harpies and Peleus. She made runs back to the closest town sometimes. That's how the Big House now had a massive cauldron of Kit-Kats, Reese's Cups, and Twix.

Kitty looked down at the cards she'd just dealt herself. A royal flush of clubs. Sometimes Kitty wondered if this deck was rigged. She hadn't rigged it. But others knew better than to let her use it in poker matches.

In her mind, Kitty ran through people she could rope into a game. Chiron was out. He hadn't stopped galloping around, all stressed out, for the last week. Alex had his hands full. Travis and Connor had lost all their money to her a couple weeks ago and were still sulking. The Nike cabin had a new girl: Steph. Maybe she'd play?

Kitty sighed. She placed the deck of cards back together and into her pocket. Who was she kidding? Kitty didn't want to play with a thirteen year old Nike kid. Thirteen year olds were annoying on the best of days. A Nike thirteen year old? No thanks.

The sun began to set. Kitty stood as a cool breeze made its way across camp. Maybe she'd come up with some other cure to boredom back in her cabin.

She still had the cabin to herself. No other children of Tyche had been claimed. Sometimes she wondered if she was the only one out there. What about her father—a man she barely remembered except for the smell of booze—had been so special that a goddess slept with him? There had to be others.