This fic is a birthday present for my little sister Michelle "Shelly" "I'm-not-going-to-put-a-last-name-here"'s twelfth birthday. Happy birthday! This fic takes place about two years post-TLO, but completely disregards the Heroes of Olympus series, so I guess you could say it is AU, but I'm not marking it as such.

Warning: This is a self-insert character (Or in this case as a little-sister-insert-character) though I don't think she's a Mary-Sue. If you do not approve of self-insert characters, leave now and never come back

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and situations belong to the all-powerful Rick Riordan. I'm just playing in his sandbox.

Chapter 1

In which we are introduced Michelle "Mish" Martinez, and she does some foreshadowing.

Hi. My name is Michelle Martinez (though my friends call me Mish). And this is the story of how my life began anew, how I discovered who I really am, and learned about life, love…

Okay, rewind. First of all, I discovered nothing about love, other than the fact that you can't always count on it saving the day; and secondly, that is way to dramatic a start for me. I'm not very good at writing. This may have something to do with the fact that I am so dyslexic it's practically a handicap. It also might have something to do with my talents not lying in that area. You see, I am a very visually oriented person. I enjoy art, and picture-taking. My step-sister Vikky says that writing is an art form, but then, she's always been kinda weird like that. To me, words are just words.

I suppose that I should begin by telling you a little bit about myself. I have heard critics say things before along the lines of "starting a story with a description of the main character is bad" (a rough paraphrase) Critics shmitics! As I said before, I don't really believe in words being an art form; and if you start off a story with no descriptions of the main character, than how do you know what to expect from the story?

Anyway, myself. I have long blonde hair; about to my mid-back, which is pretty much my only distinguishing feature. I am very proud of my hair, having been growing it out since I was eight. My eyes are a normal brown, nothing exceptional. I am also five-foot-five, which pretty freakishly tall for a twelve-year-old.

Speaking of being twelve, not for long! Tomorrow is my thirteenth birthday! Vikky says that we'll have to have an awesome bash to celebrate my entering "teen hood". While I'm at it, I suppose I should tell you how I am related to Vikky. I'm not, really: My dad met her mom when I was two, and they got married when she got pregnant with my little half-sister Vanessa. So while Vikky and I aren't actually related, we feel like we are sisters: She took care of me a lot when we were little and Vanessa was in the hospital, and her mom, Amber, is like my mom. I never knew my real mother, she died right after I was born, but I love Amber as though she was my real mother, and Vikky as thought she was my real sister.

I can remember being so happy, so content before my thirteenth birthday. I was playing outside with Vikky and Vanessa; listening to my elder sister describe the clouds to my younger sister, who would never see them. Vanessa, you see, is blind. It's funny how I thought that that was the worst thing that could ever happen to my little family, before my whole world got turned up-side down…..