The Witch's Daughter: Book 1| The Sea of Stone

_Chapter 1| C.C.'s Spa and Resort

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Every day was always so boring. It was the same thing every. Single. Day. Andrea pulled her hair into a tight ponytail and looked at herself in the mirror. Even her reflection was boring. She sighed; she would never be perfect like the other girls.

Speaking of other girls, there was a knock at the door. Reyna poked her head in, giving Andrea a toothy grin. “Hylla sent me in here to make sure you were awake. Ready for a new day?” she asked brightly.

Andrea almost scowled at the younger girl—even if Reyna technically was physically older. “New?” she scoffed. “When is there ever a ‘new’ day?”

Reyna came in her room, barely noticing the sparsely personalized area, bare except for an entire wall of bookshelves, filled to capacity, and a comfortable—if not slightly worn—armchair. “Every day has the opportunity to be a new day. You just have to make it new, greet it with a new attitude. It wouldn’t hurt to smile every once in awhile, ya’know.” Reyna smiled at her once more, as if to prove her point, before skipping out.

Andrea looked at her reflection once more. Maybe Reyna was right. She took her hair out of her ponytail, letting its natural curls frame her small, angular face. Andrea braided her hair down the side, allowing her bangs to fall to the side for the first time. The girl staring at her from the other side of the glass didn’t look anything like her; she looked confident and prepared for the day, unlike the girl whose likeness she mirrored.

Andrea walked out of her room and down to the reception area with an outer confidence in her gait. What she really wanted to do was hide out in her room for another couple millennia with only her books as company. Unfortunately, Andrea was expected to be on time for—well, pretty much everything.

Seeing Hylla showing two kids around, she steered toward them, hoping her false confidence would appear believable. As expected, Hylla eyed her new hairstyle with discreet distaste before smiling as one would to a small child. “It’s nice to see you non-reclusive, Andrea. Have you finally accepted the fact that people other than fictional characters exist?”

Andrea felt an angry blush rising. Keeping her voice surprisingly level, she answered, “I’ll take them,” she said, referring to the two behind Hylla. “After all, I’ve been here longer, I can give them a more complete tour; and I’m sure my mother would be more than happy to overlook your last customer. He had a lovely helicopter, though.”

It was Hylla’s turn to flush. “Fine,” she replied tightly. “I hope you have fun—freak,” she added the last word on quietly so only Andrea could hear her.

“Well,” she said brightly to the kids behind her. “I’ll now leave you in the—capable hands of my colleague, Andrea. See you both at the luau.” Hylla waved, wiggling her fingers at the pair in an almost flirtatious way. Andrea barely managed to keep a straight face as she walked away, she looked so ridiculous!

Partly giggling, Andrea addressed the two youths who had been looking around the Spa. The girl was looking over every inch of the interior, her stormy grey eyes taking everything in. Even though she watched everything suspiciously, she was impressed.

The boy was a completely different case. His bright sea-green eyes took everything in, but with the innocence and amazement of a young child.

“I’m Andrea, though you probably already figured that out. I’ll take you to C.C. where she’ll give you your makeovers. Any questions?” Percy raised his hand.

“That other girl said something about a luau later—“his stomach rumbled—“is there going to be blue food?”

Andrea couldn’t suppress a smile and nodded. “So, what are your names?”

“I’m Percy,” the dark haired boy said, and then, gesturing to the blonde, “And this is Annabeth.”

“It’s great you guys are here,” Andrea shook their hands, her first physical contact in months. She felt a slight tingle when she let go, and clenched her fist so as not to show her discomfort. “I’ll take you to see C.C.”

As they passed the swimming pool, Andrea made eye-contact with Reyna, who was putting cucumber slices on a woman’s eyes. Nice hair, she mouthed. Andrea smiled and nodded her thanks. Reyna was right: smiling did make the day more enjoyable.

As they passed the fountains, Andrea heard Annabeth call, “Are you alright?” She turned to answer but found out the question was directed at Percy, who did look a little pale. He looked as if he might be sick—or cry—or both.

“You are looking a little pale,” Andrea remarked, even as Percy said, “I’m fine—just, let’s keep walking.”

“Are you sure?” she asked him, slightly concerned that his face was now turning a little green. “Do you want some water or something?”

Percy shook his head. Andrea raised an eyebrow but dropped the subject, for now.

They ascended the white marble steps to C.C.’s more private meeting rooms. Soft singing drifted down to them. Quiet words sung in a powerful, melodious voice gave the listener a vivid picture of forbidden meetings in an olive grove in the moonlight, and the steady rush of a waterfall while lying in your lover’s arms. It created a depiction of two people madly in love.

Andrea listened to the song with sad remembrance. That song used to be a lullaby for her when she was little. Did her mother even remember how she would sing that song to her when the nightmares wouldn’t go away? Probably not.

They reached the door where C.C. would be waiting for them. “She’s right in here. C.C. will be so happy to finally meet you.”

“How did she know we were here?” Annabeth asked.

“We’ve been expecting you for several days now,” Andrea answered. Annabeth thought about that for a moment. “Oh, come on,” she joked. “C.C. isn’t that scary. She doesn’t bite . . . much.”

Percy laughed nervously, “Is that supposed to be reassuring?”

Andrea was silent a moment, tapping her chin with an overly thoughtful look on her face. “Yep,” she said, popping the ‘p’, and gave them a friendly shove through the door, completely clearing her face of emotion before following.

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So, this is the first chapter that I have gotten around to rewriting. You can tell which ones have been edited by the _ at the beginning of the chapter title. Like this one is _Chapter 1|C.C.'s Spa and Resort.

 *I am currently in the middle of the . . . fourth, I think, rewriting. It will take time, a lot of time, until I am satisfied with whatever I have up.*