Chapter 1- Where I belong...
Eponie Zabini- Age 6
So, me, mom, dad, Blaise(My brother) and Draco(My brother's and my best friend) are heading to a beach. Oh, and Hermione Granger. Hogwarts is doing some daft program to unite all blood. Not ever going to work. I have my head stuck into a book my Latin teacher gave me. It is better than an English book because the letters dont fly around and change. It is about Greek gods- like Zeus and Hades and Athena and all those. For some reason, I think he wants me to so good on my tests... Not many teachers like me because of my dyslexia and ADHD. In other words- I'm a total night mere to put up with. My family seems to handle it well though- and Draco helps me read.
Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Eponie Athena Zabini and I am 6 years old. My first name is supposed to be Eponine, but my father said that it was too normal for such a talented(Yeah right!) girl like myself. My middle name is the one I take pride in. A lot of people say that I am like the famous Goddess herself. They say that I am wise, that I chose my movements with great thought and consideration. The funny thing is, I dont. I just kind of comes naturally to me. The only English book I have ever read is Matilda by Roald Dahl and that took me 2 years. Draco helped me though. He always does.
This book is mainly about demi gods. I feel a little weird reading it, and that voice in my head always comes back saying ' Focus, you can work it out by yourself'. I personally think I am going crazy, but when ever I ask my mother about it, she always looks at me in a strange way, her eyes going cold for a moment before she tells me to find my father and ask him. When I do that, he always puts it off. I don't really know why. I just get the feeling that they are hiding the biggest secret in the world from me. I keep thinking of a plan to get them to tell me, but they always get me off guard. I don't bother asking Blaise, because he wont know anything. He never does. Anything he does know, he tells me. He even told me what he got for my birthday last year.
"Whatcha reading?" Draco whispers in my ear. I show him the cover to I can still read. My father chuckles at this.
"Not all of us are as smart as you, 'Ponie" he tells me, trying to hole back another chuckle. I get confused by this. I put my finger on the page to mark it sort of and look at the cover.
"What's so hard abo- Oh" I laugh a little at my own stupidity. Forgot that they cant read Latin((a/n- I forgot which one, so it might be Ancient Greek)). "It's about Greek Gods and their children" Draco nods and looks at the cover, trying to work out how to read it. My mother sighs.
"Are you really going on about that again, Eponie? I have told you millions of times- you don't need to know it!" she demands.
"You just don't get it- this is the only subject I am possibly going to get higher than an F- on! Plus, I find it interesting!" Then, we have a big argument.
2 hours later, we get to the beach. My mothers eyes are cold but I don't care. Why should I? Then, I come to realise something. This has happened every time I have mentioned greek mythology. Good, Eponie. Now work the rest of it out. the voice at the back of my head tells me. Why? What god is it most? I worked it out the other day... ATHENA! But... why? And why would my middle name be Athena if she hates her?
"Come on, Eponie!" My mother says sturnly. I guess I was walking slower than the rest. I speed up to get to them and slip inbetween my brother and Draco. They both take my hands. My mind wanders about my new results until we find our spot on the beach and settle down. I put my towel next to Hermione's and Draco puts his next to mine. I lay there for a bit, until my parents go off. Blaise comes over from the ocen. I wonder...
"Blaise... what do you know about Athena?" I question him. After all, he may of just forgotten to tell me... He freezes for a while and his face goes pale. Then he relaxes.
"Your named after her... Mum hates her..." he mutters the last part. This makes me question it all. He sighs when he realises what I am going to ask next."Pon, It isn't my place to tell you..." then I come up with a plan.
"Tell me what?" I pretend to be confused. A part of me already knows whats coming. That part hates it.
"Your Athena's daughter" Even though I was expecting it, doesnt mean it dont hurt.
Ever wondered what it felt like to find out your whole life had been a lie. Well, it feels like you have been shot a million times. You go silent and not wanting to say a single word.
As I lie on the beach, I think it over again and again. I am a Demi-god. I am a half-blood. I will never trust anyone again. I look to my right and see a weird looking boy on crutches, a girl with dark hair, a boy with bronzish hair, and girl with blond hair. They seem to be looking round for someone. Since I have nothing better to do, I go over to them. They look about my age anyway, so what's the harm. I go over to the boy with the clutches, because he seems to be the one in charge. "Hey, what's wrong?" I ask. The boy looks at me and smiles slightly.
"Umm... I don't suppose you know Eponie Zabini?" he asks in a hopeful voice. You could tell he was American.
"Groover, come on, lets just stick to her and not ask around..." says the blond girl. I gave a side glance to her and smirk.
"Maybe I do know her... why do you want her?" I question, after all, it isnt everyday a stranger asks you if you know you- wow, that's way too many 'you's.
"We need to..ah... talk to her about something..." The one who must be Groover answers.I eye them all suspiciously. "Do you have a description of her?" I ask, if they get it right, I run. The blond girl sighs.
"She probably looks like me, you know, blond hair, grey eyes..." she says. That is what confuses me the most. Might as well give in... since they aren't pervs.
"No, she doesn't" I tell them. Wait- why am I talking about myself in the 3rd person?
"Well, if you know then why ask?" stresses the dark-haired girl. The bronze boy pushes forward from the back.
"Look, if you know, can you just tell us, we are in a hurry!" I sigh.
"It's me" They all stare at me in shock. They all sort of whisper to each other. Then, the blond girl walks right up to me and looks me in the eye.
"What's your middle name?" She questions, her eyes going soft for a moment. Our eyes are identical, but I have black hair, not blond. I have Zabini hair.
"Athena" I respond. Before I could think anything else, she hugs me. When she pulls away, she is smiling.
"This is her" she says in awe.
"Well... will you come with us?" Groover asks. Hold up- go where?
"To camp half-blood" The dark haired girl say, kinda reading my mind. "I'm Thalia"
"Luke" Says the bronze boy.
"I'm Annabeth, your sister" Huh? How the- oh yeah! Athena can have 2 girls and 1 boy per century- she is like the only one who can have, but is limited. That is because the kids usually work it out before they get to camp. All of a sudden, I feel tingly. I look up to see a owl, olive tree and s snake in a blue holographic sort of thing. She has finally claimed me.
I think this all over, and I realise it is a lot to take in. I have read about camp half blood a lot of times and I know what happens there and that every half-blood must go there. And when I think hard, Draco is the only think I will really miss. Maybe Blaise at times, but mainly Draco. I glance back at them. Blaise is talking away to Draco, but Draco is looking right at me. That doesn't help. Go with them, Child. Stay safe I hear the voice in my head say. That seems to make up my mind. Plus, being with these people kinda make me feel better.
"Okay" I say. They all look at the direction on my best friend and my brother. "No- I can't. Let's just... let's go" I say. Now, I have to be strong.
Three weeks later, we are in a dungeon like place. Well... saying 'we', it's just me and Annabeth at the moment. The rest have been captured. It's funny what you can learn about yourself in a matter of 3 weeks, isn't it? I had no idea that all those monsters were attacking our family because of me. I had no idea that my night meres happened for a reason. I had no idea I would come to trust and love these people like I do. Me and Annabeth always stay together. That's how we are not with the rest. Plus, we were wise enough not to go that way. Annabeth and I have been wondering round here trying to work out where they are for ages. I just wish I brought my wand with me! It would have been so much easier. All of a sudden, I hear a cry. I look at Annabeth. "Did you hear that?" I ask her. She nods.
"It sounded like it's coming from that way" She states as she points to the left. I nod, agreeing with her. We both form near enough the same plan in our heads, and we get close to the rocky walls. The cyclops is the one that is keeping Luke, Thalia and Groover captive- and we need to save them. When we are sure the cyclops isn't watching or guarding the place, we put our plan into action. We creep down the walks while looking around. We know this is risky. And somehow I think it is a stupid plan when we hear a roar and two gigantic feet charging towards us. We both pull our knifes out, trying our best not to shake in fear. "Distract it for me?" I ask my sister. She nods.
"HEY! YOU BIG HALF-WITTED BAFFOON!"She screams.
"Annabeth, don't insult it!" We hear Thalia yell, but she doesn't listen. I get worried though.
"Eponie- go!" She instructs me, and I don't need to be told twice. I run over to the place where my friends are kept and see the lock. I automatically put my knife in the key hole and yank the door open(how do you think I got into Draco's room?). They all hurry out, Thalia hugging me. Then, we all run to Annabeth. The Cyclops has her in his giant fist. My heart beats ten times as fast as it should and I quickly come up with a plan in my head. It may or may not work- who cares? I run up to the cyclops' foot and stab it. Hard. It drops Annabeth and clutches it's foot in pain. This is our one and only chance to ever get out of this place.
"RUN!" I scream at the top of my voice. We all run as fast as we can, the giant beast fallowing us. When we finally see light at the end of the cave, it is like everything goes it slow motion...
And that is when we escape.
We keep running, all the way to our boat. We don't stop running until we are on it. No one speaks until it moves at last. It still seems weird, that we're all back together. After all, it's just been me and Annabeth for the last 4 days. We have learnt a lot about each other. She knows about how my 'mother' feels about Greek mythology, and how me and Draco was with each other. I know about her father and step-mother and their children. Her life has been much worse than mine, but she denies it. She always will. But, I have had everything I have ever wanted, she hardly had anything.
Thalia sighs and stands by me and Annabeth on the edge of the boat. We all glance at each other, eyes flickering from one person to the next. Luke's eyes land on me for a while. He chuckles to himself and we all look at him with confusion. "When I go on a quest, I'm demanding to have you with me, Ep's" he tells me. We all laugh slightly.
"How did you even think of that?" Thalia asks with humor in her voice. I shrug.
"I dunno... I guess in was just my instincts..." I answer. We look around us and realize we are in the middle of no where. We slide down to the floor and talk about it for a while. We talk about random things- nothing really. It's like that for hours, until we all fall asleep.
I have a nightmare again, just like I had one a few nights back. About everyone I ever loved being killed. The worst thing- it was me who was killing them all. Draco was there. He was desperately trying to talk me out of it. Reminding me of all the amazing times we have had. Blaise was there too. He was saying that we were still siblings- that nothing was ever going to change his love for me. Dad was there, but he was looking down at me, telling me how i was never a true Zabini. That hurt the most.
My new friends were there, but I didn't kill them... we seemed to come to an agreement of some sort. Before I could work out what it was, I'm being shook awake.
My eyes fly open to discover Luke and Annabeth above me, and Groover and Thalia getting ready to drop the anchor off the boat. "Welcome to America, Eponie" Annabeth whispers in awe. I guess she is just glad to be back where she- we- belong. These last few weeks have been hard on her- they have been hard on all of us i guess. This is her home, and now it's mine too.
I get up and work towards the edge of the boat. I see sand, like the kind I left. The last part of England I saw. Suddenly, I miss everything. I miss the manor, and Blaise and Draco and Dad and the house elfs and everything but her.
As we pull up and get off the boat, we all look absentmindedly at Grover. He worries as if he has done something wrong, but I raise my eyebrows.
"Oh, right, yeah- we need to go onto the other side of the beach- that's where the camp it" He tells us. We silently decide to walk, I mean, how long can a beach be, right?
We have been walking for days and days. Monsters of all kind have been chasing us. We thought that we had got ahead of them but... i guess our little trip to visit the cyclops was a bad idea. Now, they have caught up on us. Grover says that we're nearly at the camp, and although he said this 3 days ago, i suddenly believe him. Why? you may ask. Because if I look up through the rain, I can see the little village place where i know that the camp is located. We sort of all dash towards it (And not because a cyclops is right behinds us- she says, her voice dripping with sarcasm). The rain and wind is getting worse and worse, no matter how much Thalia tries to calm it. Thalia and Luke are leading and I'm behind everyone else as I've hurt my ankle. Thalia looks back at me for a second.
"You guys go on" she says, but I know that is not a good plan whatsoever. So does Annabeth as we exchange looks.
"No Thal, we're not leaving you!" I scream over the storm.
"Eponie, move!" she orders.
"Wha-" and before I can even finish my word, Thalia jumps in front of me and pushes me out of the way. Then, a 10 ton tree crushes her body.
"THALIA!" I scream, trying to get to her but Luke and Annabeth pull me back.
"We need to get to the camp, Eponie" Annabeth tells me. I can't go though. My best friend needs help. Even though I've only known her for a few weeks, Thalia has always been there for me. Ever since day one. And... she just gave her life for me. I know that she is dead. I'm not stupid, not even the most trained, hard and brave half-bloods could survive that.
Right now, I know 5 things: 1- I've just lost a sister. 2- I will never forgive myself for it. 3- I will never forgive Thalia for it... because it should have been me. 4- I'm not ever going back to my old family. 5- We need to get to camp.
Hey. My name is Kenton. First, I would like to say a big thank you to Elzy (Dramionedreamer) who is helping me write this fic and practically wrote most of this chapter. This is my first fanfic. I hope you guys like it!
Hey! It's me, Elzy! I know you may think that I haven't been updating because of this, but it isn't. This is just something I do when I have writers block on my own stories. Please be nice to Kent, he's new! You know the drill, right? Fave, fallow and review :D
Kenton.D & Elzy xoxo