Does that count as a surprise? (Poseidon kids, OPEN)

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Hitomi had been led around the camp by one of the Hermes kids. He'd explained how things worked, but he'd also told her not to expect to stay in the Hermes cabin. She was already thirteen, after all, so odds were that she would be claimed by campfire that night. She didn't quite understand what he meant by campfire, but she was just going along with it. He'd let her take Butterscotch to the stables before taking her suitcase to the cabin, which Hitomi thought was nice of him.

Currently, they were in the mess hall for dinner. She wasn't used to being around so many people. Even on the ranch, it had mostly just been the four of them. But there were campers of all ages, all over the mess hall. The girls at one table kept looking in hand mirrors, and a bunch of blond-haired, grey-eyed kids sat at another with a few maps between them. At one table, two boys sat all by themselves.

"Why are those two alone?" she asked her guide. She remembered being told that each cabin had its own table, but she couldn't remember who sat where. She saw the kids at yet another table fiddling with something that was made out of some bronze colored metal. But everyone seemed to be talking and enjoying themselves, despite the heavy air that seemed to hang over everything. She was tempted to ask about it, but didn't. She'd find out about it soon enough, she was sure.

"Oh, that's the Poseidon table," the Hermes boy told her. "He's one of the Big Three, along with Zeus and Hades. None of them have very many kids. Big Three kids are too powerful, too dangerous." He walked over to a large fire and scraped some of his food in it. "The gods like the smell. Send a prayer, maybe your father will claim you before dinner's over."

Father... Who are you? she asked silently, scraping some of her food into the fire as well. Where were you when mama died? Why didn't you help us? She hadn't meant to be accusing, but she couldn't help it. This Olympian that was supposed to be her father disappeared before she was even born. Did he even know who she was? Well... Can you just show that I really am your daughter?

She followed her guide to the Hermes table. She had just put her plate down when she heard a few gasps from other campers, and gradually the mess hall fell quiet. The Hermes kids were staring at her. No, not at her, but at something above her head. She looked up in time to see the trident above her head fade away.

[Virginia Grace]

Meal time was a good time in Genie’s book. It was a time to eat and socialize with your siblings and just take a break from all the training and the work. Plus you got to eat and that was something Genie enjoyed too. The Hephaestus girl wasn’t the best cook in the world. She had tried to make a cake once and it ended up being more protein than anything sweet. Needless to say it was an experience that she would rather forget and when she could get food prepared for her that was never a bad thing.

At the moment though Genie was just about done with all that. She had done the socializing and eating thing and now she was just sitting around playing with one of her latest creations. It was a small automaton turtle that she had been working on for a while now. It wasn’t really much to look at but it was a fun pet to play with as was the case with many of her creations. This one she had built with a few special features that she was testing out now while she waited for dinner time to be over. Several of her siblings were gathered around watching as well but for the most part it was a pretty normal night.

So involved in what she was doing Genie didn’t really notice the new girl enter. Normally it would have been a bigger deal as a new unclaimed camper meant a potential brother or sister which was always fun but unfortunately unclaimed also meant they would be sitting at the Hermes table and it was kind of hard to meet new people when everyone was segregated. Still, it didn’t take long for their quiet night to suddenly become a little more exciting.

Genie was watching the little turtle, she had named it Shellder because she thought that was cute, spin on its back when it happened. Everyone got suddenly quiet and Genie felt an elbow jab into her ribs making her look up sharply. “Huh? Ooooooooooh...” It didn’t take her eyes long to find the big glowing trident sitting above the new girl’s head. The gods definitely knew how to make a show and it sure changed the atmosphere of the mess hall in an instant.

Now Genie had been at camp a minute or two and had seen plenty of claimings but she always thought it was cool. Of course it was obvious that the new girl wasn’t going to be joining them at the Hephaestus cabin, she was a big three kid no less, but that didn’t really make a difference. Genie stared at the girl in awe as the trident disappeared leaving by an eerie silence. A silence that was broken as Shellder shot up a little multi colored firework that popped and fizzled in the air about their heads. That was enough to break the spell and Genie immediately gave the girl a big grin. “Congratulations! You’re a Poseidon kid!”