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Grade
6

I didn’t ask to be a demigod. You should trust me on this: you wouldn’t want to be one either.

 My name is Alexa Jackson, and I am thirteen years old. I suppose you're not going to take me seriously, but ever heard of Percy Jackson? You'll never guess: he never mentioned even a tiny bit about his demigod sister! I’ve been in his great hero shadow all thirteen of my years, hidden by Poseidon, supposedly my own father hates me, is ashamed of me? That's what I thought, too! He banished me to the very same island that the Greek girl, Calypso, lived. I was on Ogygia! We became great friends, Calypso and I. I watched from the sidelines while my best friend fell in love, lost her love, sulked around, and, of course, repeat!

But, there was one problem. One of the boys seemed familiar to me, but it’s not like I know a lot of people! His name was Percy, and felt buddy-buddy to me as if seeing a reflection in the pond. (As you can see, I’m great with words.) I had the most trouble watching him getting loved by my best friend.

After he left, Poseidon paid me a visit in… gosh, wait for it… a dream. Typical god. Give me a weird dream, wait for me to freak out, then I wake up to Calypso singing. So, basically, this is how it went:

I was dreaming about carrots having a dance party with kiwi, and then suddenly, I was walking on the ocean floor towards a very elaborate castle, but halfway there, I met my father.

Okay, backtrack for a sec; when I was a baby I simply opened my bright green eyes and woke up to just know all of this, that I'm a demigod, that my dad is Poseidon, blah, blah, blah. 

Now, back to my vision. 

“Uh, hi?” I said tentatively.

“Welcome,” the tall fishtailed old dude said, “Alexa Jackson, to my underwater palace.”

“Uh…What... Who… How… 7?” Like I said, I’m generally great with words.

“Alexa… this might be hard to explain, but… I’m Posedien and I’m your-” the old fish dude never got to finish.

“What, father?” I cut in, “You’d be better described as an old fish dude, who just so happens to have ignored me for my WHOLE life!”

“Um maybe… Holly Me, I hate child tantrums.” Dad muttered.

“At least tell me why I’m here on this Gods forsaken island? Cough like it would make up for everything Cough” 

“You want to know the whole story?” Dad asked.

“Does a one legged duck swim in a circle?” I retorted.

After a few seconds my dad replied hesitantly, “... Maybe… Was that sarcasm?”

“No, it was a croissant. I thought you were an all knowing God talking to a puny stupid mortal.” I laid a thick layer of croissantism aka sarcasm, so much it was practically dripping, on the fact that he was better than me, and that it was a croissant, not sarcasm. “To be careful not to insult your amazing all knowingness I won’t answer that.”

“This wasn’t how this was supposed to go.” he said under his breath.

“It wasn’t?” I asked innocently.

“Oh, by the way, I have a gift for you, a weapon, as well as a treasured possession, it’s a two in one!” he says this all while producing a, you wait for it, bobblehead from his shirt pocket. FYI, Poseidon was wearing a button down pineapple and palm tree T-shirt. On top of all that,  the best part of all (just kidding, worst) was that the fact that the bobblehead was a perfect replica of the old fish dude, right down to the pineapple on his shirt that was wearing sunglasses.  

“If you tap it’s head, it turns into a mini-trident!” my dad said excitedly, like a child on their birthday.

I had something up my sleeve. “Can I see it?” I asked, trying to sound as excited as him.

My father handed the bobblehead to me and I grabbed it firmly and pulled off it’s head! It made a satisfying pop. I tossed the body into the rushing current, and started juggling the head and a few rocks from the sea floor. Poseiden sighed. “So…” I say, “got any real weapons for me?”

Dad asked, “Can I just tell you the story?”

“Get on with it,'' I replied snottily, still juggling.   

He told me that my twin brother, Percy, and I had been separated at birth to keep the monsters away. Our scent would have been too much, especially since we were children of one of the Big Three (he may have hinted that we were also the children of the best Big Three). Calypso had been asked to take me in, and she gladly accepted. The gods had lifted the curse of Ogygia a little bit so that I could grow up there. The gods had not known that I was the smarter twin, and I already knew some of this. Apollo had been the one who took me to see Ogygia, and my not-even-one-year- old-self bribed him into bringing the news of what was going on in the world every week. Bet Percy couldn’t do that!

“So,” I said, stretching the word out like silly putty, “Why do I need to know this? I mean, sure it’s great to find this out, but really, why do I need to know this now?”

“I… just thought you might want to know...”, Poseidon said sheepishly, looking off into the distance.

Great Gods of Olympus, these father daughter talks are so deep. I thought, as I knew that if I had voiced that little bit out loud, I would have turned into a small fuzzy mammal, or a potted plant. I’ve had experiences with Apollo. Then I said, “Is there something going on that you, I mean, the puny mortals, need help with?”

“Oh yeah, so you know Kronos? The one that ate all the gods?”

“Yup.”

“Well he’s back and your brother, Percy, and the rest of Camp Half-Blood are fighting half the Titans and their army, including Kronos. Then there’s Jason and the Romans who are fighting the other half of the Titans and their army. In all the confusion nobody, other than me, the Great Poseidon, noticed that Coeus, the Titan of intellect was forgotten about. I need you, and hopefully others as you meet them too, to find him and destroy him!” while Dad was saying this, a cute pink dolphin started checking me out. She had large starry eyes, and at her snout, fins, and tummy, faded into a pretty lavender, and then periwinkle. When I noticed her, the pink around her face got darker, like she was blushing. The purples turned to orange.

“Oh!” I exclaimed, “Who is this?”

“Were you even listening to a word I said?” my father asked.

“Oh, what- yeah. So who’s this?” I repeated. All of a sudden I heard a distant voice singing.

“Zues’ undies!,” Dad exclaimed, “You’re waking up soon! I need to talk fast, don’t interrupt I’m going to tell you everything. So, Coeus is loca-”

“Wait,” I blurted out, “Are you going to tell me who this is?”

“Yes,” my dad said exasperatedly, “her name is Priscilla the all Mighty Color Changer, but you may call her Pip.”

“Anyways, Coeus is in hiding in the Michigan Stadium, in Ann Arbor Michigan, where there’s always at least two-hundred people, so he is never easily seen. I would help you escape but, as the other gods don’t believe me, I can’t. So that’s all you.” Dad said this all in one breath which was really impressive. 

He handed me a small shiny thing. I took it from him and examined it. It was a charm bracelet, and I have to admit that I immediately liked it. I heard the singing again, louder this time.

“It’s name is γοητεύει, pronounced goitévei, that means-” 

I cut him off short, “Charm, I know.”

“Good luck! I love you!” His voice faded away and I woke up to Calypso's beautiful singing.

 

                                                                                                                     🔱🔱🔱

 

You haven’t lived until you’ve heard Calypso sing. Her voice is like the sun and the moon. She sings like there will be no tomorrow. Calypso’s singing is rich and full, and she pours in so much emotion, it’s almost like you’re living the song. I could go on all day swooning about the magnificence of her singing, but for your sake, and my sanity, I won't.

I should probably tell you a bit about where I live. I live on a rock, floating in the middle of nowhere, where absolutely no one can find us. You’re welcome for the lengthy explanation. You want more details? Fine. 

Calypso has her own cave in which she resides, and I also have a small cave all to meself! 😎I have a honey brown wood loft bed with desk underneath, a neon yellow bean bag, a mirror with bright green trimming, and canvases all over the wall that I painted … sigh … if you insist. And, I have poop emoji bedsheet and pillow, complete with many stuffed animals. Go ahead. Laugh. I know. 

I woke up and immediately tried to sit up and promptly smashed my head on the ceiling. What a great way to start the day. # I hate the Fates. I yawned and flopped back onto my pillow, rubbing the now forming knot on my head. As you can probably see, I am definitely not a morning person. I rolled over and prepared to get in another, I don’t know, five hours of sleep, when something shiny caught my eye. At the rate weird things are happening to me, it probably means I’m part raven, but I stopped moving anyways, and realized it was on my wrist. I recognized it as the charm bracelet my father gave me in my dream. I hadn’t had the chance to really look at it when I was asleep, so I took a moment to get a closer look. I’m not much of a jewelry person, so I figured it wouldn’t mean much to me, but I must say that I did not feel like chucking it into the sea where Poseidon would eventually find it like I thought I would.

I examined the charms and found that there were six charms already attached. The first one was an elegant looking sword, the next was the exact same dolphin from in my dream, Pip, and Pip was actually changing color right before my eyes! She smiled shyly at me and turned light blue and green. The third charm in line was a seashell that smelled faintly of the ocean.

The fourth charm was a shield and it had an engravement of… me! Then, the weirdest thing happened, I could’ve sworn that myself , I mean,  in the shield, turned and smiled and winked at the actual me before turning back to its original stance. Huh. 

Anyways, the next charm was a beautiful pearl and the final charm was a pretty picture of the sea framed in silver.

I could almost hear the waves crashing against the sand and seagulls begging for their dinner, smell the salt and at that moment I knew that the sea was my home. Whatever doubts I had about Poseidon were carried away with the sea breeze. For once, I felt at peace. 

Uh, sorry. I got a little sappy there.

Five minutes later, I was dressed in jeans, a bright yellow tank top with a grey hoodie over it that said; Poseidon rocks!  In more bright yellow, and neon yellow high tops. I wore my hair back in two french braids. And yes, I did do them myself. Calypso taught me when I was five. I went down to the place Calypso and I always eat, the dining table down by the beach. Calypso smiled at me as I sat down. 

“So, how did you sleep?” she asked.

“Meh”, I replied. Then I told her about my dream. By the time I finished, her smile had turned upside down. She looked down at her plate.

“What?” I asked, “What is it?”

 “I knew this day would come,'' she sighed. I stared at her, my mouth full. Calypso shifted in her seat. “ You’ll have to leave the island,” she admitted.

  “WAHOO!!,” I hollered, but then, seeing Calypso’s expression, I shut my mouth. I figured that it was not such a great time for my friend. She would be left alone after I left. Calypso seemed to realize that I knew my mistake, and she gave me a small smile of forgiveness. 

Within the next forty-five minutes I had finished my breakfast, brushed my teeth, and Calypso had packed my bag, which consisted of  three days of clothes, an assortment of stuffies, my poop emoji pillow, and a LOT of food. Our invisible servants/buddies had worked their invisible butts off making me food. I also added to the bag my toothbrush and toothpaste, my hairbrush, a lot of rubber bands for my hair, some rope, and Duck Tape. You’ll never know when you’ll need it. 

After all the packing, I met Calypso in her cave. She had her back facing me, so she did not know I was there. She was sitting on her bed, staring at a picture of me and her, arm in arm. This picture seemed to have been taken when I was five, because I was missing quite a few teeth. I slowly backed out of the cave, cuz I figured that I should give her some space.

So I headed towards my cave. I had one last thing to pack. I got into my cave and headed to my desk. I picked up a picture I knew would be there. It was of Calypso and me the first time we ever saw each other. Calypso was beaming, looking the happiest you could ever imagine. I was staring at the camera, a mischievous grin on my face. My sea green eyes twinkled, even so young. I noticed something I hadn’t ever before: Calypso was looking at me. She loved me! 

I gathered my courage and strode down to meet Calypso. Our eyes met and suddenly, I found myself hugging her, and she hugged back. We exchanged teary farewells, and I walked down to the beach shore fingering Pip, on my charm bracelet, thinking about how I was going to get off the island. But after I had rubbed Pip three times, POP! There she was! 

As I climbed on and sailed away on Pip, I took one last glance at my home to see Calypso waving goodbye, and I waved back. I knew that I might not ever see it again. I turned away from my past, and looked towards my future.

 

(DRAMATIC, SAPPY MUSIC)