Daughter of Mother Earth

Chapter Twelve

She watched as they crept away. Crystal went back inside the cabin, and laid back down. She could only hope they make it back alive...
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Several years passed by for Crystal. 3 years, to be exact. As she grew, she cherished what few memories of her friends she had. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover went on more quests, but when they came back, they would spend more time than before with her. Hannah also had more time to spend with her friend, once she stopped helping as much with the forges.

During those years, Crystal discovered more of her powers. Not only could she control plants, she found she could control all the elements- earth, fire, water, and air. Controlling the Earth came easy to her, but it was difficult to control the others. They would drain her of her energy if she used them too long.

And now here she was. Crystal was now 16 and had grown well. Her green eyes became brighter and her brown hair became longer and almost curly, which she would mostly keep in a bun.

She only left camp during school season. Chiron had talked to her and told her more things she needed to know about herself. She was escorted to her special school and stayed there until school was over and returned to camp. During the Kronos War, she had been severely wounded, but that was when she found that the earth could heal her. After the war, the voice didn't talk as much. After a while, it stopped taking at all. Although she'd never admit it, Crystal almost missed that voice. It would entertain her whenever she was alone or when she needed help.

"Crystal! Crystal, where are you?!" Hannah yelled, shaking Crystal out of her thoughts.

"What, Hannah?" She stood up from her seat in the fields, dusting the dirt from her bottom.

"It's Percy! He's gone. He was on a mission and then... poof! He hasn't came back! Annabeth is worried sick and gone too, looking for him. Do you have any idea where he is? He might be kidnapped! What if he's dead?! What if-" Crystal interrupted her friend's rant.

"Hannah, I'm sure he's fine. Give him a few days, I bet he'll return."

~~~

A few days went by. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. Six months had passed with Percy still gone and Annabeth still worried.

~~~
Crystal was taking her swim time with the Nereids. After a while, she dried herself and threw her clothes over her damp one-piece. Just when she stepped on a beach, she heard noises above her. She looked up to see a flaming chariot heading straight towards the lake. She recognized it as Butch's, a son of Iris, chariot. It fell closer and closer, until it crashed into the water. A huge wave doused Crystal in water soaking her again.

From under the water emerged Butch, Annabeth, and three other campers. They climbed onto the beach as a few kids brought a big bronze leaf blower and instantly dried all of them. Crystal combed down her now frizzy dry hair and confronted the previously wet kids. Her eyes widened when she recognized a certain blonde.

"Annabeth! I'm so glad you're safe!" She pulled Annabeth into a hug after she had stood up.

"Crystal, I missed you too!" She hugged back.

"Well obviously not enough! You didn't IM me, or Chiron, or even Hannah! She's been worried sick about you!"

"Like I had any dracmas on me, otherwise I would've!"

Crystal looked over Annabeth's shoulder and saw the ruined chariot. A small crowd has formed and someone pushed through it.

"Annabeth! I said you could borrow the chariot, not demolish it!" Will stomped up to her.

"I'm sorry about your chariot, Will. Here, I'll fix it, promise." Crystal patted Will's shoulder.

Will just scowled at his broken chariot, but nodded.

"Whoa, who's the cutie?" A voice came from behind Crystal.

She whipped around, ready to smack the voice. A boy, her age, stood a few inches taller than her, smirking. He had black hair and chocolatey brown eyes.

"Do not call me cutie." She glared.

He chuckled, "Ooh, fierce too, I like her! Isn't she cute, Piper?"

A girl with choppy, uneven brown hair shook her head, "Leave her alone, Leo. We don't even know her name."

Crystal smiled gratefully at the girl- now known as Piper. She was very pretty and had eyes that seemed to change color- like a kaleidoscope.

"Maybe I should introduce everyone. This is Jason," Annabeth pointed to a blonde boy whose hair was cut in a close crop. "And that's Piper and Leo." She gestured to the rest.

Crystal nodded. "Hey, have you-"

She was interrupted by a warm red light. It bathed over everyone who was looking at the source. Floating above Leo's head was a flaming hammer.