Medusa's

Chapter Two

Mr. D looks up from his card game. There's a soft noise as Vick drops the tin can he was chewing on. Chiron stares at me. "Do you know how to reverse it?" he asks. I nod. "Will you show us how you do it?" I chew a little on my lip. "I guess." I look around. "Vick?" He bleats nervously. "As long as you're sure you can reverse it." I twist and pull on my streak. I stare intently into Vick's eyes. My eyes get hot. Vick's skin turns to stone, slowly extending from his face. Within moments, he is a statue. Chiron stares at me. I take Vick's wrist. The process begins again in reverse, this time from his wrist. In a moment, he's a satyr again. He bleats. "Holy Zeus, Bailey. Where did you learn that?" He exclaims. "I...didn't." I say. "I...don't feel...so good." I slump toward the ground, and just as I'm about to hit, Vick catches me. The last thing I see is Chiron's concerned face above me. And then I black out.

I wake up on a soft bed in an empty room. I still feel really tired. Next to my bed is a glass filled with something that looks like apple juice and small yellow squares. I take the juice and take a sip. I'm surprised when it's not juice. It tastes like liquidized chocolate chip cookies. It's warm, even though the glass feels cold. Chiron comes in, ducking his head. "How's the nectar?" He asks, nodding toward my glass. "Really good." I say. "Try the ambrosia." I take a small bite out of one of the squares. It tastes like buttered popcorn. "Mm." I say. "Ready for a tour?" Chiron asks. I nod and swing off the bed. We head to the patio of what Chiron calls the Big House. A pretty girl passes. "Silena, can you ask Percy and Annabeth to meet us in the commons area?" Chiron calls. Silena nods. "Sure, Chiron." He says, and runs off. "Silena Beauregard, head counselor of the Aphrodite cabin." He canters off toward the cabins. I notice now that the twelve big cabins are blocking one smaller cabin. Chiron steers me toward the first ones. Two large marble cabins, one decorated with lighting bolts and the other with peacocks. "Zeus and Hera." Chiron says. "They're nice." I say. The next one is a low, gray stone building with windows facing the sea. Next to it is a cabin with a grass roof and flowers decorating the front. "Poseidon and Demeter?" I guess. Chiron nods approvingly. The next pair of cabins are a badly painted red one with a boar over the doorway and barbed wire on the roof and a gray building with white curtains and an owl over the doorway. "I think the gray one is Athena." I say. Chiron nods. "Yes, and the red one is Ares." I glance at the boar. "Frightening." I say. We continue. The next two are a glowing gold one and a silver one. "Apollo and Artemis. Artemis' glows silver at night. She's sworn to never be attracted to men, so her cabin is merely honorary. The Hunters stay there when they visit though." Chiron explains. I brush the gold one as we pass. It's really beautiful. The next cabin is a small brick one with smokestacks, next to a wood one with a painted blue roof. "The brick is Hephaestus. The wood is Aphrodite." I look at the wood one. "Not very glamorous for Aphrodite children." I observe. Chiron smiles. "It's nicer on the inside." The next one looks truly like a camp cabin, with peeling brown paint. The only unusual thing is the caduceus above the door. "Hermes." I voice. Chiron smiles again. "You're good at this." The one next to it can only be Dionysus, lined with grape vines. The last one is jet black and windowless, with pillars and torches. I walk towards it. It's beautiful. I think I love it so much because I am it. All black with hints of green (my eyes and streak, the torch's flame). Chiron grabs my arm and snaps me out of it. "Bailey, think I know who your mortal parent is." I turn. I grew up an orphan on the street and I'm dying to know my parents. "Your mother is mortal. She is-" He falters. "Who?" I ask. "Bailey, you've already been through so much today. I don't want to stress you out anymore." I stare intently into his eyes. "Chiron, I've waited fourteen years to know who my parents are. Please tell me." He looks at me and sighs. "Bailey...your mother is Medusa."