2011 - New Beginnings has been nominated for the 2011  !!!
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A short story about Kassi getting claimed and recieving Hesperus.
This is from her point of view but it's short. The only situations that are in detail are the ones that have Kassi really involved in them because SallyPerson has already written most of this. I just want to have a bit of it from my point of view, and I needed to explain about getting Hesperus. Sally's story is in Natalie's Adventure Series. Again, this is just a bit of background and extra reading and explaining.
Chapter 1
“Go!” Annabeth yelled.
Malcolm was my partner so I turned to him, nervous, with the Stoll’s warning in my mind. He made an obvious swing to my right which I easily avoided. Again, he swung at me, not bothering with tricks, probably trying to go easy on the newcomer. I blocked this one, and a strange feeling of joy and adrenaline hit me when our swords met, metal ringing.
I didn’t want easy. No, I wanted a challenge. Perhaps he saw it in my eyes, because he tried a little harder. This time going for a trick move, trying to take advantage of my lack of training. With my newly and strangely found euphoria, I easily saw it coming. Then I retaliated.
His mouth was in a tight grimace, no longer a loose smile. He could see that he no longer could go easily on me, and he now was fighting hard. I, on the other hand, let out a small bit of laughter; this was natural.
I swung at his right, then, when his sword went to meet mine, I changed direction and went towards his left. He managed to get most of his sword between mine and his body, but not enough. The metal grazed him where there was a hole in his armor, and a trickle of blood came out. While he was occupied with that, I simultaneously kicked him in the gut, sending him back a few feet, almost falling.
He managed to gain control quickly and he closed in on me. We were at it again, blocking, swinging, hacking, all that good stuff. We were both sweating hard, this fight more taxing than either of us had thought, but there was no way that I was going to stop. I could see Malcolm tiring and, sure, I was tired too, but the adrenaline coursing through my veins kept my eyes and limbs sharp.
I saw him stumble a move and took the opportunity, knowing he was getting sloppy. I swung high and our swords met for the billionth time. Then I hit him with my shield, stunning him a bit, and swept my leg under his, causing him to fall to the ground.
I had just put my sword to his throat when Annabeth yelled, “Okay, stop!”
Malcolm looked up at me with disbelief. I vaguely heard Natalie talking to Seth, her partner, and just as I looked up to meet her eye, I saw everyone looking at me. Or rather, switching from looking at me to above me. I followed their gaze and saw a symbol above my head. What the heck?
Annabeth and Seth both said, “Daughter of Athena.”
Seth continued, “You’re my sister.”
Was this getting claimed? And wait, like Athena Athena. Like I just got claimed by the goddess of wisdom Athena? Awesome. I hugged Natalie, happy with the result. She hugged me back but her smile didn’t reach her eyes. Her congratulation was forced, not sincere. I wanted to talk to her but the Athena kids swept me away, talking about battle and Caribbean capitals.
Through the fog of being claimed and my siblings’ constant talk, I glanced over at her, leaning against the arena wall with Jameson, looking forlorn. I was sad, why couldn’t she have gotten claimed too? Yet, once again, I never got the chance to talk to her, as my siblings herded me towards the Athena cabin, eager to show me my place among them. I was happy, but a part of me worried about Natalie.
Chapter 2
I found that I fit in pretty well with the Athena kids. They were all nice and made me feel really welcome. Seth was close to my age, and we got along well. The only thing was that I missed Natalie. I tried talking to her at lunch, the only time I saw her, but she ignored me. I could understand her sadness, but she didn’t have to be so mean. I was hurt, it wasn’t my fault I got claimed before she did. Why did she have to be so bitter? I was constantly thinking about her throughout the week.
Other than that, I made lots of friends that week and learned the ropes of camp. One camper in particular that I really liked was Rebecca Marks. It was right after I had gotten claimed. Natalie was ignoring me, and I didn’t know why, so I was lonely. I mean, I had my siblings, but none of them really clicked with me. One day, during sword practice, both my partner and I were completely wiped, so we decided to take a break. I took a drink of water and went to sit by a nice looking girl against the arena wall.
“Hey,” I said to her. “I’m Kassi Banoight.”
“Hi. I’m Rebeca Marks, Apollo”
“Oh. I’m Athena.”
She cracked a nervous smile but didn’t say anything else. She actually looked a little uncomfortable. She must be shy. An awkward silence passed between us, and I broke it by saying, “So..how long have you been at camp.”
“Um..about two years."
“That’s nice. As you can probably tell, I’m new. I have no idea what I’m doing.” I laughed a little laugh, trying to dispel some of the awkwardness.
Rebecca still looked a little uncomfortable, but less so. “No. You’re fine. You’re a lot better than some others I’ve seen.”
I smiled. “Thanks.”
I got a returning smile, a little one, but a smile nonetheless. I saw my partner beacon from the middle of the arena, her sword ready. I sighed. “I have to go; my partner is calling. See you later.”
“Yeah,” she responded, “good luck.”
I walked away with a smile on my face. Rebecca was shy, but seemed really nice. Like one of those girls who always boosts your self-confidence and never gossips. I was eager to get to know her better, for she seemed like a great friend.
Throughout the week, I hung out with Rebecca. As I predicted, she was amazingly and infallibly nice, always boosting me up if I ever doubted myself. I found that, once you got to know her, she would open up more. She was really funny and fun to be around.
She was also great at basketball. I joined her and some of her siblings for a game once. It was three on three, girls against guys, and I was on Rebecca’s team along with her half sister Kayla. The other team was Lee, Michael, and Will. All were Apollo campers.
I wasn’t that great at basketball, at least the offense part. I was great at defense though, and that seemed to help in this game. Rebecca and Kayla took most of the shots and scored the points. I was on the wings, passing it in for them. They were both great teammates, passing the ball to me even though they knew that offense wasn’t my strong suit. In my defense, however, I almost always followed it up with a great pass to one of them to score.
It turns out that my defense really helped. Michael, while being short, could still sink in three-pointers like nobody’s business. Lee was tall so he could make the post shots, and Will could make them all around. They’re offense was great, but I shut them down a few times. On the fast breaks I was able to beat them down court to mess up their easy layups, make them work for them. Also, I was put on Michael up top. He was their point-guard and really fast. Yet, I kept up with him, possessing some speed myself, not allowing him a lot of time with the ball, not letting his teammates get the ball to him, stealing it more than once.
By the end of the game, with a combination of my defense, Kayla’s offense and ferocity, and Rebecca’s brilliant ball handling and shooting, we won. It was hard fought, but we pulled it out in the end. The score was 46-38, and the guys were taking it with good grace. We shook hands, all terribly tired from the exertion.
Rebecca and I got some water and sat down as the others walked off, having to attend to something else. “Hey, nice job. You played great,” Rebecca said to me.
I, slightly down on myself on how I didn’t score a lot, said in reply, “I'm not so sure about that. I don’t think that I made more than eight points. You were amazing though. Great ball handling, accuracy, speed, and leadership. Wow.”
“No,” she said, pushing off my praise. “You’re good! You’re super fast! They would have gotten a lot more points if you weren’t there and they probably would have won. So stop doubting yourself, Kassi.”
I smiled. This was just like Rebecca, making people feel better, making them see the skills in themselves when they don’t. I got up. “Thanks. Let’s go see if we can go set up another match later.”
I trained hard during those first days at camp and tried not to dwell too much on Natalie (fail). One activity I particularly liked was archery. Even more than a sword, a bow felt at home in my hands, as if this was were it always should have been. I was pretty good at it too. That Tuesday, with the pushing of my siblings, (Just try it! You’ll do fine), I participated in the archery knockout. My arrows found their marks, and I did surprisingly well for a new camper (or so they told me), never having done archery before. That Friday, when we had archery, I worked on my form. Soon, my arrows were even more accurate and consistent than before. Every one hit the bullseye by the end. I had found my forte.
Chapter 3
That Friday we had capture the flag, and Natalie was claimed by Athena. I was happy for her; we were sisters! But that little part of me wasn’t ready to forgive her just yet. I welcomed her and stuff, but it was awkward between us. Then again, I couldn’t stay mad at her for long. By that night, I was already back to normal and so was she, and tacit apology between us.
About two days after the game, I found an envelope on my bed. It was silver, intricately embossed with gold designs. I looked around, no one was in the cabin except for me. Was this really for me? I stared at it, not sure if I should open it. Curiosity won over my caution, and I opened it, still half wondering if it was a mistake. Inside was a single piece of paper. I pulled out the letter. It was all in Greek, but I could read it easily. It said:
Kassi:
The time has come when you are in need of a weapon. No longer are you in a world where protection is around every corner. No, you have now entered a world in which safety is hard to come by where as danger is common. This will aid you greatly in your will to survive. It has been created by not one, but by two immortal powers, enthralled by your existence and ability. Hesperus it is called, the evening star. Great power is contained within it. It is our gift to you, one who has fallen in this world before, for your aid.
There was no name at the end, no signature or other means of identification. I was confused. I had heard about how sometimes demigods got gifts from the gods, normally their parents. Annabeth had a cap that made her invisible; Thalia had Aegis, but why would any god want to give something to me?
I was still holding both the letter and the envelope, thinking, when I noticed a weight in the envelope that wasn’t there before. I turned it upside down, and a necklace fell into my open palm. I examined it closely. It was a charm, intricately made, on a soft, supple, strong, cord. It had a silver crescent moon, and in between its tips was a golden sun, rays coming from it and echoed in silver within the moon. It had a faint glow about it, as if it had a secret inside, waiting to come out.
I put it around my neck and fingered the charm. Engraved on the back, at the top, was a name: Hesperus, the same as in the letter. So this was the gift, the weapon, the power. Hmm, didn’t look like much. I thought that it would be more like a sword or something, not a fancy necklace.
I didn’t know that I had a lot to learn about Greek gods.
Still thinking of weapons, my mind had switched to bows, and still fingering the charm, I brushed over the name. Hesperus. Hesperus. Hes-per-us. I said it out loud, foreign yet comfortable on my tongue, “Hesperus.” Then, things got strange. As I said it, I tugged against against the charm, playing with it, and it expanded. Without really knowing what I was doing, I kept going, and the moon expanded into a silver bow with a golden arrow (the sun) notched and ready to fly. A quiver appeared on my back. Woah.
I turned the weapon this way and that, examining it. It was once again intricately made, with many symbols and designs all over it, yet subtle enough not to be overdone. I tested it out. The string pulled back smoothly, the perfect amount of tension. I let the arrow fly, and it stuck in the wall. This was awesome. I pulled the quiver from my back. There were twelve arrows including the one I had just shot. I returned it to my back, and in the small absence of moving, I snapped my fingers like I normally do, unable to keep completely still. I stopped; something was wrong. It was as if there was a disturbance or something. Whatever it was, a small, distant part of my mind was picking it up. Then, I noticed that the arrow I shot in the wall was gone. Not knowing why, I checked my quiver, and sure enough, I counted twelve. What the heck???
I shot two more and watched them as I snapped my fingers. Sure enough, they disappeared, and I again had that strange feeling that I now attributed to this phenomenon. Now wondering how to get my bow back to its original form, I focused on the image of the charm and brought my hands back to my neck, opposite of what they had done before. To my amazement, it worked, and the seemingly innocent charm hung at my neck once again.
Eager to try again, I grabbed the charm and said its name, but this time, for some reason, my mind couldn’t focus on a bow, only a sword. I tried anyway and what happened amazed me. The moon expanded, not into a bow, but a perfectly balanced sword, and the sun turned into a round golden shield. Again, I turned it this way and that, marveling at the incredible weapons. Just as the bow was white, the sword was black. It's blade was silver with subtle designs, but the hilt was black with iridescent and small designs on it. The shield had the symbol of Hesperus in charm form in the middle, with rays radiating from the center like the sun. This little gift was a lot more than meets the eye.
Chapter 4
I had soon grown used to operating my gift, and it became natural. Of course, I kept it hidden from most people, well, basically everyone. I didn’t want everyone to know that my necklace was actually my weapon; it could possibly be used against me, so I made a scabbard for the sword so a sudden appearance of it wouldn't look so suspicious. I only told a few close friends about Hesperus and it's powers, wanting to keep it under the radar.
I also attacked the letter, wondering who would have sent this to me. My first thought was my mother, Athena, but that was quickly dispelled. The letter had said two immortal powers, and, from my reading, it didn’t seem like her style. After much thought and careful examination of both the letter and the weapons, I came to the conclusion that Apollo and Artemis both gave me this gift. Really, it was obvious, the only thing that had held me back was why. I hadn’t done anything for them. Why would they want to give me a gift? What would compel them to do so?
I talked to Natalie about it. “Obviously Artemis and Apollo gave this to me, the name, the symbols, the colors, but why?’
“It could be tons of things. Maybe they just like you, or want to get you to like them, or put you in their debt. There’s no way to know for sure.”
She was right, there wasn’t any way to know for sure, so I just accepted it. I still was on the lookout for anything that would give me a clue, but I let it rest, never knowing their true incentive.
The End