Blessed

Aliviana Rider is not an average 14 year old girl. She has always felt out of place in her school, her community, her family. Even her hair is strange. Sometimes it was a fiery red, other times a golden blonde, and even a rusty brown at points. Depending on her mood, her eyes could be striking blue, or a sad grey. One day, Aliviana is surprised by her parents. They were going on a vacation, on a cruise around the Mediterranean. Despite the fact that Aliviana is deathly afraid of boats, she is excited. The feeling of nausea can always be washed down with a fresh virgin daiquiri. When she gets on the cruise, she is already in her favorite bathing suit. Two days later, the boat docked at Samos, an island in Greece, and the passengers are filed off. Being the clumsy girl that she is, Aliviana gets lost in the crowd of people. When the mob is gone, she has no idea where her family went. While trying to find a short-cut to a city of Samos, she goes down an alley. Suddenly, Aliviana falls, down deep into a hole, one she is sure no one knows about. Head spinning, Aliviana goes down the tunnel on her right. It leads to a city, one hidden from the world. The city of Laleus, home to children and a few rare adults, called "The Gifted". Graven, the leader of the civilization, says that only people that are blessed by the gods can find the area. Apparently, being Gifted means that a god saw power in a just born baby and gave them part of their power. The gods would help them control their powers. These heavenly creatures aren't from the typical Greek or Roman stories either. They are unknown by Aliviana. Graven believes that Aliviana is something special, but doesn't know who her patron god, or maybe even the extremely rare gods is. Who is it? Will she ever see her family again? How will she get out of Laleus?