#since Serena is one of her creations like Ari and Kit

[cloud8andahalf]

Another one of @donkeynamedeeyore‘s characters sort of washed up into my Percy Jackson fanfic. The chapters told from on of my OC’s pov but well that just cause that’s how the story is written but well, meet Serena Garcia, a six year old child who gets lost very easily:

Jamie sat by the sea happily talking to Tala. Things were getting back to a normal schedule and thanks to the necklaces that Marcy made he felt pretty safe even when his friends weren’t close by. Plus he liked having all his friends at camp now and feeling like a normal kid at summer camp. He didn’t even have to worry about ever going back home to the Pechman’s again either! Things were turning out to be rather awesome that summer.

           Just as he was saying goodbye to Tala, Jamie noticed a large wave come into the bay carrying a little Latina girl on a surfboard. She seemed very calm despite her strange entrance. Jamie watched as a hippocampus pushed the surfboard onto the shore, whinnied, and then shot off back to sea. The little girl stood up and waved to the strange sea creature, “’Bye, Mr. Seahorse! I’ll be sure to tell my teacher he taught about seahorses all wrong!”

           Jamie stared at the strange girl, and saw Tala staring equally perplexed by the girl’s entrance into camp. Jamie found his voice before the naiad did, “Uh, hi, who are you?”

           “Serena.” The girl pulled her surfboard onto the beach, “I got lost.”

           “Yeah.” Jamie agreed, “I would say so, uh, where you from?”

           “Hawaii, but Mom was checking out tide pools in South Carolina on Myrtle Beach or something while my step-Dad was teaching me to surf. He’s really good at surfing and joins in all these cool competitions! So I was learning from him. Then I got lost.” Serena smiled happily and pushed some straggling black hair from her face. She was basically covered in sea salt.

           Someone must have alerted Chiron to their strange guest since he and about half the campers came down towards the sea. The girl smiled and waved at them, she looked at Chiron, “You’re a horse too!”

           “Uh, centaur, who are you?” Chiron asked kindly.

           “I’m Serena, I already told him and you’re a stranger, so I shouldn’t talk to you.” She told Chiron happily. The centaur looked a tad surprised at this reaction, though Jamie couldn’t blame the girl; she was pretty young after all.

           Jamie nodded, “She’s from Hawaii, and was recently in South Carolina with her Mom and step-Dad before she ended up lost, which she didn’t really explain.”

           Serena grinned, “I got lost! I caught a wave like Makani said, he’s my step-Dad and he knows how to catch a wave, cause he was born in Hawaii like me, but I’m not Hawaiian like him, it’s weird! Still, I caught the wave just like Makani always does. He was teaching me and I must have caught a really good one cause this one took me sideways instead of towards the beach! It just kept going for a really long time and I eventually sat down cause it’s sort of tiring to stand that long. The seahorse came to keep me company for a while too, along with my other friend, but he’s sort of far behind.” She looked out towards the sea.

           “Friend?” Chiron pushed.

           “I can’t talk to strangers.” Serena told him, but then looked troubled, “But I can’t call on phones myself, they never work. I need you to call this number, Mr. Horse.” She held up her wrist to show Chiron a bracelet, “My Mom and Makani gave it to me because I get lost a lot. They also tell me to let everyone know that I have a very active imagination. They also say I’m a compulsive liar, but I’m telling the truth right now. Am I on a different beach now?” She turned towards Jamie to ask that.

           “Uh, you could say that. You caught a wave to New York.” Jamie was trying not to laugh. This girl was rather entertaining.

           “New York?” Serena frowned, “Is that far? Do you think I can swim back?” She looked out towards the ocean then apparently decided against it and held up her wrist again, “Can someone call my Mom? Her phone number is on my bracelet.”

           Chiron looked to be about to say something to her again, but he looked out towards the bay. Jamie saw Tala jump and disappear into the water. Irene ran towards the beach now and looked at Serena slightly concerned, “Who was your other friend, kid?”

           “Oh, he was really big! He made the wave for me!” Serena explained and looked towards the ocean, “There he is! Hi, Mr. Dragon!” She waved as a sea dragon rose from the waves staring at Camp Half-Blood.

           Jamie pulled out his poker chip and flipped it into a sword, “Uh, you brought a sea monster here?”

           “He was rather unfriendly towards the seahorse.” Serena crossed her arms and looked towards the sea dragon, “But I don’t think he’s that bad.”

           “You don’t think Cetus, a sea monster known to have terrorized ancient Greek cities and heroes is that bad!?” Luke shouted and ran to join Irene at the waterline now.

           “I like her.” Ari wasn’t far behind with her bow drawn.

           “Thanks.” Serena smiled and then waved at Cetus, “His name is Cetus? How did you know that? Hi, Cetus! We traveled really far!”

           Chiron tore his gaze from the sea dragon and looked at the small girl with pure confusion and slight concern. Nora and the rest of Jamie’s school friends came down the beach with a few other campers ready to take on the sea serpent. Nora stopped beside Serena, “Do you know fear or is this a lack of like…life experience?”

           “Hm?” Serena looked at her curiously, “Your hair is cool.”

           “I…thanks.” Nora tied her hair back preparing to fight the serpent.

           “I don’t know if I can punch that.” Holly leaned on her spear and frowned.

           “You have a spear.” Laurie pointed out.

           “We all know it’s for show. I can’t use this thing properly.” Holly shrugged and pulled on some gloves that Marcy had made with celestial bronze on the knuckles. Marcy had also made celestial bronze soles on Holly’s shoes. It was pretty cool looking actually.

           “Hey, Cetus!” Serena surprised them by running into the water a bit as the serpent lunged closer. “I don’t think these people like you much.” Irene tried to grab her unsuccessfully as she ran towards the serpent.

           Even more surprising, the serpent stopped, and tilted its head a little as Serena spoke to him. A sound rose from his throat that sounded almost like a cat purring to Jamie. It was similar to the sound that Peleus made after a camper had fed him. Serena pet the serpent’s nose and smiled, “You’re a cute little dragon, aren’t you? I’m gonna call you Nui.”

           Cetus seemed pleased by this and allowed Serena to pet his nose causing campers to lower and drop their weapons in shock. No one was really able to say anything as Serena spoke to a giant sea monster like he was just some pet she had found wandering about. Eventually Cetus sunk back into the bay and retreated away from camp. Serena turned around and looked at everybody curiously, “Nui is gone now, he says I probably won’t be able to get back to South Carolina and I should really keep asking you guys to call my Mom for me.”

           “Gods.” Jamie nearly dropped his sword as he watched Cetus’s tail breech one more time before disappearing into the sea for good.

           Ari came to her senses first, “Oh, I’m keeping her! Hell yes! Your name’s Serena, kid? What’s your Mom’s name? We’ll call her! I’ve got your back! The name’s Ari Lake! I’ll show you the ropes!”

           “No!” Chiron intervened quickly at that, physically placing Ari farther from Serena, “Serena, what’s your last name?”

           Serena frowned and studied Chiron, “Can I trust you, Mr. Horse? You are a stranger and my Mom says not to talk to strangers.”

           “I’m a centaur, and yes, you can.”

           “Centaurs don’t exist though. My Mom told me that after I told her I saw one while we were driving to South Carolina after visiting Grandma and Grandpa in Florida.” Serena crossed her arms.

           Chiron seemed to be silently praying to whichever god would grant him patience, “I’m a real life centaur, and I can help you call your Mom, I just need your last name.”

           “You were just talking to a sea serpent and you doubt the existence of centaurs!?” Knox Bradley, a son of Nike, shouted from farther up the beach, “Who is this kid?”

           “Serena Garcia!” She told Knox happily.

           “Garcia.” Chiron sighed, “And your mother?”

           “Her name is Mom.” Serena told him with so much certainty that half the kids standing by couldn’t help but laugh. They quickly muffled it though with an annoyed look from Chiron.

           “Okay, see, Serena, we don’t have phones here.” Laurie decided to take over, “None of us could get them to work even if we wanted to, I’m sure you know the feeling.”

           “Phones are dumb.” Serena agreed with her happily and then pointed to Laurie’s face. “You have two different colored eyes.”            

           “Exactly, and yes, I know, I was born like that. Here, we’re going to call your Mom, but we’d like to know her first name so we can contact her.”

           “Like through mail?” Serena asked.

           “Sort of.” Laurie thought about it for a second, “More like…through alternate phone lines.”

           “Like what?”

           “Uh, well, there’s a goddess who deals with messages through rainbows, her name is Iris, and we ask her to help us out.” Laurie explained.

           “Oh.” Serena nodded as if that made complete sense.

           “And she still doesn’t believe in centaurs.” Todd crossed his arms and smiled, clearly enjoying this.

           As if it were an afterthought to the events that had just happened, a glowing symbol of a trident appeared over Serena’s head. She stared up at it confused, “What’s that?”

           “This is Camp Half-Blood, that,” Ari motioned towards the floating golden trident, “Is your Godly parent claiming you. Seems like your Dad is Poseidon.”

           “No, my Mom always says: Tu Papá es un puta.” Serena told her with certainty, “Though, I don’t know who or what a puta is.” A couple of the kids who spoke Spanish in the camp were snickering.

           “Your Dad is Poseidon, God of the Seas. I’m guessing puta is just what he is, not who.” Ari just repeated herself; “Perhaps you should talk to your Mom about it. Kit and my Mom kept our Dad’s real identity from us too. Don’t get too hung up about it. Our Dad is Apollo, you know, God of the Sun, Archery, Poetry, Music, Art, and all things awesome?”

           Serena shrugged, “Oh, okay.”

           “Again, she’s accepting that ancient gods are real, but she doesn’t believe in centaurs.” Todd again pointed this out, but a glare from Chiron told him he better drop it.

           “So, are we calling my Mom?” She held up the bracelet on her arm again, “Weird floating things and my God Dad aside, I’d like to go home now.”

           “Right.” Chiron took over and threw a coin in the water, “Oh Great Goddess, Iris, please connect us with Serena Garcia’s mother. She won’t tell us the woman’s name, so that’s the best I can give you.”

           “Please hold.” Iris’s pre-recorded voice told them from the shimmering water.

           A moment later, a Latina woman sitting beside a man of Hawaiian descent came into view. They looked worried, but not quite as worried as most parents would be when their child disappears. Jamie found it a bit easier to believe that this girl really did get lost a lot.

           “Oh! That’s cool, you have water Skype.” Serena walked towards the image.

           “I…what? Water Skype? That’s not real.” Chiron shook his head.

           “You have it right here.” Serena motioned towards the image like he was dumb.

           “Serena! Thank goodness, where did you run off to now? Makani and I have been worried sick!” Her mother shouted at the image and then realized that she was speaking through a rainbow, “What in the world are you calling from?”

           “Water Skype!” Serena told her.

           “Iris Message.” Chiron corrected, “Hello, Ms. Garcia, I’m Chiron, the centaur, your daughter ended up in Camp Half-Blood, perhaps you were told about this place?”

           “Oh, yes, it was mentioned by Serena’s father once or twice, he never stuck around much.” Ms. Garcia frowned.

           “I told them you called him a puta!” Serena told her happily.

           Ms. Garcia grew embarrassed, “Serena! I only said that because I was frustrated with the man! Dios mios, Mija! Still, thank you for finding her, we can come pick her up soon if needed.”

           “She’s been claimed by Poseidon rather quickly, she can stay for the rest of the summer if you’d like.” Chiron explained.

           Ms. Garcia and Serena’s step-Dad shared a look before she responded, “You’ll watch her? Would you like to stay there, Serena?”

           Serena thought a moment and frowned at Chiron, “Are you really a centaur?”

           Chiron sighed, “Yes, I really am.”

           “Well, okay. So, my real Dad is around here?”

           “He’s a god, he wanders where he pleases.” Ms. Garcia waved her hand, “You’ll be safe at camp there, Mija, and it’ll be much harder for you to wander off. We’ll pick you up in August. I love you, Mija, be good for Chiron and your Dad, and for the other campers. Makani and I will finish up the beach research and he’ll tell you all about the surf competitions when you come hoem for school. Be good!” She blew a kiss and Serena waved happily as Ms. Garcia ended the call. Jamie had a feeling that the woman was probably very relieved that someone was watching her daughter; especially if Serena really did just randomly get pulled off on waves and lost all the time. For a woman who worked by the sea, not having to worry about your daughter getting pulled off with the next wave probably made her job a lot easier.

           “Okay, so, I’m staying here? That’s cool. Can I play with Nui while I’m here?”

           “How about I explain things at the Big Cabin? Irene, will you join us? She’s your cabin mate after all.” Chiron motioned towards Irene who was standing beside her brother dumbfounded.

           “Should Luke…I guess not…um, yeah, coming.” Irene walked beside Serena and Chiron as they walked off.

           “This summer just keeps getting better.” Nora grinned and watched Serena, Irene, and Chiron walk off listening to Serena arguing with Chiron over whether or not he really existed.