The Shadow Summoner | Book Three - PJO Universe

six

MEG IS CLAIMED

Apollo sat at the Apollo table with his children Austin, Kayla and Will, plus Nico and Ariana.

It was quite amusing, to say the least. Austin and Kayla peppered him with questions about Olympus, the war with Gaia and what it felt like to be a god and then a human.

Will and Nico sat shoulder to shoulder, bantering good-naturedly. They were so cute together it made Ariana feel desolate.

"Nico, Ariana," Apollo  sai at last, "shouldn't you two be sitting at the Hades table?"

Nico shrugged. "Technically, yes. But if we sit alone at our table strange things happen. Cracks open in the floor. Zombies crawl out and start roaming around. It's a mood disorder."

"Don't forget the random vines that sprout out at start harassing poor campers."

"How could I forget that and the time water randomly soaked that Hermes kid?" Nico laughed.

Ariana smirked; in her defence the Hermes kid (who had since left camp) was homophobic towards Will and Nico.

"We cant control it. That's what we told Chiron." Nico added.

"And is it true?" Apollo asked, his mouth slightly open.

Ariana smiled thinly. "We have a note from our doctor."

Will raised his hand. "I'm their doctor."

"Chiron decided it wasn't worth arguing about,." Nico said. "As long as we sit at a table with other people, like ... oh, these guys for instance ... the zombies, shadows, vines and water all stay away. Everybody's happier."

Will nodded serenely. "It's the strangest thing. Not that Nico or Ariana would ever misuse his powers to get what they want."

"Of course not." Ariana agreed. "Normally I'd sit at the Aphrodite cabin but Drew isn't here so I thought why not spent time with my emo brother at Cabin 7."

Ariana glanced across the dining pavilion. As per camp tradition, Meg had been placed with the children of Hermes, since her godly parentage had not yet been determined.

Meg didn't seem to mind. She was busy recreating the Coney Island Hot-dog-eating Contest all by herself.

The other two girls, Julia and Alice, watched her with a mixture of fascination and horror.

Across the table from her sat an older skinny boy with curly brown hair - Connor Stoll. Despite the darkness, Connor wore sunglasses, no doubt to protect his eyes from a repeat poking.

Ariana also noted that he wisely kept his hands away from Meg's mouth.

In the entire pavilion, there were counted nineteen campers. Most sat alone at their respective tables - Sherman Yang for Ares; Valentina Diaz at Aphrodite; Katie for Demeter. At the Nike table, two dark-haired young ladies who were obviously twins conversed over a war map.

Chiron himself, again in full centaur form, stood at the head table, sipping his bug juice as he chatted with two satyrs, but their mood was subdued.

The goat-men kept glancing at Apollo, then eating their silverware, as satyrs fend to do when nervous.

Half a dozen gorgeous dryads moved between the tables, offering food and drink.

"Where are the ... others?" Apollo asked Will.

Will took a bite of his pizza. "Were you looking for somebody in particular?"

"What about the ones who went on that quest with the boat with Ariana?"