The Sun God's Daughter

The Sun's Dagger

That evening I transferred my stuff from the overcrowded Hermes cabin to the less crowded Apollo cabin. I say less crowded because there were still quite some campers in the Apollo cabin, according to Adam the Apollo cabin was the second fullest cabin, but everyone still had their own beds and space. I got dressed into my PJ’s and climbed into my new bed. I thought back to the campfire and how Adam and Steven had given me a big hug after I was claimed and how all the Apollo campers had happily welcomed me into their family. After a few minutes of thinking I finally drifted off to sleep.

‘Rise and shine, sleepyhead!’ Steven yelled happily in my ear while flinging the blanket off me. I yawned but listened and got out. The good thing about being the daughter of the Sun God is that you don’t mind getting out of bed in the morning. Except for in the winter months. Getting up in the winter was a pain in the behind. After showering and getting dressed I followed the rest of my cabin to the dining pavilion. ‘For Apollo. Thanks for claiming me… dad.’ I whispered while offering some of my food. I joined the rest of my cabin members again. ‘So, what’s happening today?’ I asked them. 

They all shrugged. ‘Just the usual activities.’ Elian told me, sending me a smile. I nodded. It felt great to finally be a part of something, to have brothers, to have a family. This must be how it feels to have a home, I thought happily.That day I trained with my family. The annoying part was that there weren’t any girls in the Apollo cabin at the moment, except for me, so the boys were really happy to finally have a sister again to tease and annoy. Which had as soon as I’d been claimed became Steven’s and Adam’s new hobby. We were now on our way to sword fighting.

‘So what’s up with you and Gabe?’ Steven asked. I sent him a glare.

‘Wow, if looks could kill.’ I heard Damien, another one of the Apollo brothers, mutter.

‘If they could you would all have been dead and buried for more than five times already.’

‘Well you’re a real little Miss Sunshine aren’t you?’ Steven started cracking up then he paused and laughed even harder. ‘You know why that’s so funny?’ He was able to choke out in between laughing fits. ‘You’re the daughter of the sun god!’ I face palmed before patting my brother on his shoulder.

‘It’s ok Steve, you can’t help the fact that you’re strange.’ This time he sent me a glare.

‘FAMILY!’ Adam said while putting his arms around our shoulders. I wriggled free from his hold complaining about needing air. I really felt at home with them around. More at home then I’d ever felt before. We joked around while we walked to the arena. Hermes’ cabin and Atalanta were already there. I immediately noticed something was bothering Atalanta so I waved my brothers goodbye and joined her. I plopped down next to her on the sand.

‘So?’ I asked her.

‘So, what..?’ She asked back.

‘So, what’s wrong?’

‘Nothing.’ She shrugged. I rolled my eyes at her.

‘Yeah right. Like I’m gonna but that crap.’ She glared at me.

‘Well you should…’ I smirked.

‘Well, I am not! So tell me what’s up, cupcake.’ She looked at me questioningly.

‘Did you just call me cupcake?’ I nodded. ‘Well, that covers it. You’re getting weirder every day.’ My smile grew.

‘Thanks. Now tell me what’s bothering you.’ At first it seemed like she wasn’t going to answer so I sent one of my famous glares at her until she cracked.

‘FIIIIIINE! It’s your stupid brother.’ I let out a laugh.

‘Which of the eleven?’ Yes I had eleven brothers that I knew of that were younger then twenty, but only six at them were at camp right now, the others were, as I was told, at school but they’d come in the summer holiday.

‘Elian.’ She said angrily.

‘What did he do?’ I asked her sounding surprised, Elian had seemed one of the most normal up to now, but she didn’t seem to listen anymore as she was ranting of about him.

‘Stupid! Thought he was… Stupid!’

‘Uhm Earth to Atalanta.’ Her head snapped up.

‘Uh Sorry. You were saying?’ I rolled my eyes.

‘You were just about to tell me why you’re angry at Elian.’

‘No I wasn’t.’

‘Yes you were.’

‘No..’

‘YES!’

‘ELIANA GET OFF YOUR LAZE ASS AND START FIGHTING INSTEAD OF HAVING A THEAPARTY!’ My oldest brother and Cabin Counselor yelled at me. I looked at Atalanta.

‘Why does he only notices me?’ She shrugged.

‘ELIANA!’

‘FINE YOU DON’T HAVE TO YELL! Dictator…’ I muttered the last.

‘Heard that!’

‘You were supposed to!’ He really wasn’t… I knew he wasn’t really angry because I heard him laugh. I got up and Atalanta did the same. I grabbed my sword and looked at it. It was a sword from camp which they told me I could lent until I got my own, it didn’t feel right. It was too heavy but Damien had promised to take me to the armory that day so I just had to suck it up and deal with it. Atalanta and I smiled at each other before I charged. Like I’d expected she blocked and countered.  After repeating this for what felt like a million times, we were allowed to stop and finally Damien took me to the armory. We walked to the iron shed near to the Athena cabin, okay Damien walked and I skipped around excitedly. I felt like I was a five year old getting an ice-cream but instead I was a fourteen year old getting her own sword. Wow, my life’s messed up…

The shed looked like any normal garden shed but the inside was everything except for normal. A normal garden shed would’ve had brooms, fertilizers and other gardening material, this one had swords, daggers, bows and arrows, shields and armors. Most of them were polished and shining away brightly. Damien mentioned for me to have a look and try a few. At first I didn’t dare to touch any of the weapons, afraid to break them, until I saw a small dagger. Unlike most of the weapons, it was on the ground. I picked it up carefully and examined it. It had a shiny golden handle and a celestial bronze knife. The end of the handle was decorated by jewels and the wordsΣτιλέτο τουήλιου.  A smile spread out across my face.

‘Stileto tou hèlios. The Sun’s Dagger.’ I laughed. I heard Damien chuckle softly.

‘Well, that’s … suitable.’

‘Can I have it?’

‘Yeah, it’s yours now, but think about it carefully. A dagger is harder to work with then a sword.’

‘I’ll take it.’

I slid it back into its cover and attached it to my belt.

‘Happy?’ I smiled widely.

‘Really happy.’

‘A bow will come to you  eventually.’ He told me.

‘What?’ I said confused.

‘You’ll get your own bow from Dad when you go on a quest. 

‘So most of our Cabin don’t have their own?’

‘Yeah, they do but it’s not especially made for you.’

‘So I’ll have to wait?’ He smirked at me.

‘You’ll have to wait.’