Son of Chaos: A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

Meet Tara

*Tara's POV*

My name I Tara Valdez.

Most people don't realize that I am Leo's biological sister, but I am, his twin, in fact, born 2 mins after him.  

I was given up for adoption - mom was worried of Hephaestus' rejection. The only gods that know I exist at all are Aphrodite and Apollo. In fact, I was blessed by Aphrodite so that my eyes change color. 

I have a bunch of powers, it's really amazing. I can talk to dead people if they have a message for the living. Apollo blessed me so I'm kind of psychic. Not like Rachel, but I sometimes get these flashes of the future. Kind of like demigod dreams, only I get demigod daydreams too. It's kind of weird. Not to mention fire powers that nearly rival Leo's own. 

Sadly, I didn't really inherit either of my parents skills with mechanical stuff. I leave that to my brother. 

When I turned ten, the adoption center I lived at went up in flames. Everyone thought I was dead. I had this... vision, telling me that I was a half-blood. I met a bunch of friends, and after fighting off several monsters, we got to camp Half-Blood. 

When Leo showed up at camp, I had no idea that he was my brother. No, they had to wait till after the Giant War to tell me that. 

In the meantime though, I'd had my friends. 

Speaking of my friends -

"Hey Tara!" called Sara Ramsay, walking across the courtyard I was currently standing in. 

Sara was a child of Athena, she was really smart and logical, and she lived a good life until she found out she was a demigod. Her parents told her to go to Camp Half-Blood then, and on the way she found us. 

Us being me and the other people walking towards me right now. Amanda Beckham (Aphrodite, a real beauty Queen), Millicent Hardy (Dionysus, crazy but really nice), and Bess Thorn (Ares, violent and overprotective of us, because of her difficult previous life).

Trailing behind them was Zane Lowe. My stomach clenched. I had mixed feelings towards him, he'd broken my heart, and now he wanted me back and I wasn't sure what to do about it. 

"What's he doing following us?" Bess demanded with disgust. "He's... I don't even know how you deal with him, Tara." 

My friends care about me a lot, and they each have their own little jobs, like the emotions off that movie Inside Out Leo and I watched last week.

Bess wants to keep me safe from anything and anyone that might hurt me. She cares a lot about what she thinks is fair to me. She doesn't like someone having any kind of advantage over me. 

Amanda has her very firm idea of what's good for me and what isn't. Every morning she'll choose out an outfit for me, even though I often just want to wear a comfy camp T-shirt and jeans. She doesn't let me talk to anyone she hates or thinks is 'below our life standards'.  I guess you could kind of say she's socially choosy. She's really loyal though, and I'd trust her with my life. 

Sara is rather like the mother I never had. She's over protective and knows best, in most cases, about what's safe for me. So many times has she proved me wrong about something or someone (like Zane, she told me he was no good) but never once has she told me 'I told you so'. She helps me make the right decisions and basically stops me from doing anything that might probably end up with me dead or badly hurt.

Then there's Millicent. She's the life of the party, the cheerful, happy-go-lucky crazy one who's designated job is to keep me cheerful and smiling. That's how I feel as she gives me a big, over-enthusiastic hug. She's kind of like my brother, in one way - she uses her humor and craziness to the sadness from her past. We all know the story of how she and her mother fought a lot, and how one night it got so bad she ran away. This is NOT something we talk about though. 

So yeah, that's my friends. 

Leo ran over to me suddenly, panting. "Have you seen Buford?" he asked. 

"Uh... no sorry," I replied apologetically. "Haven't seen your table." I paused. "You didn't use Windex, did you? You know how much he hates-"

"Yes I know!" Leo cried desperately. "I forgot! I was so tired and I just -"

"It's okay, bro," I smiled. "You'll find him somehow. You  always manage."

He nodded, then smiled back at me. "Thanks, Tara." Then he ran off again. 

"Well that was strange," muttered Sara.

The others murmured their agreement. 

"Hey, guys, have you heard the news that's been going around camp?" I asked. 

Amanda nodded. "We'll all be preparing for another war soon," she sighed, running her fingers through her long blonde hair. 

"Worse than the last one," Bess agreed, shaking her head so her brown curls fell into her face. "But there's more of us than there were ever before. We can take on whatever monsters or bad guys they throw at us!" 

"It's not that easy, you know that Bess," Sara frowned. 

"Well then," I said, picking up the special sword Leo made for me. It is super cool, made from Celestial bronze, Imperial gold, Stygian iron, and is lined with silver. "We'd better be ready, shouldn't we?"

My friends grinned, picking up their weapons too and following me to our special corner of the training arena. 

We trained for a few hours, until finally Sara called for a break. 

"Who will we be fighting against?" Amanda asked. "Do you know, Tara?"

I did know. Some of it, at least. But I didn't want to freak everyone out. 

"Come on, you do know," Sara pressed. "Tell us. It might help us train and research."

I nodded. "Well, for starters, Kronos... and Atlas... and the other Titans... also maybe the Giants..."

"You're kidding, right?" Millicent said, trying for a joking laugh. 

"Nope," I frowned. "Leo and Jason and Piper were talking about it. I hoped they were kidding... apparently not..."

"Like you said then," Bess said, hefting her axe. "We'll just have to be ready for them."