"MOM! You can't do this! Put the gun down! Please!" I begged to the crazy blonde haired woman in front of me. She smiled sickeningly sweet,
"But honey, I love you." Just those five words sent shivers down my spine.
"Niki, please, go. Ill … ill be ok." I don't understand why my best friend kept saying this; over and over and over again. It was starting to make me worry. A lot.
"Im not going to leave you Cassydi." I protested.
"You … you have to trust me on this. Ive sent for someone, their going to be here any minute, I need you to leave. Please Niki, please. Ill be ok." She pleaded with me,
"What? Who's coming? Who's coming to get me?" I said exasperated. My mom spoke again.
"They came to take you sweetie. I could tell from the way she smell's. They want to take you away from me. But im not going to let that happen!" she said in a WAY to cheery voice which made my skin crawl. As if on cue, the front door burst open, and a guy rushed in with something shiny and black in his hands. As he got closer and inspected the scene, I don't think he liked what he saw very much.
"There's celestial bronze in this bullet!" called my estranged mother. I felt Cassydi's cold hand on my shoulder. The boy interrupted my mother just as she was about to speak. His voice was somewhat hoarse, and I don't know, kind of melodic in a way.
"Cassydi, take Niki and get out." he commanded in a stern voice.
"Im not leaving Nico. I don't need help. Just take Niki and get to camp as soon as possible. I can handle this." She said moving her jaw in the direction of my mother who was waiting silently with the gun still aimed at my throat. She still had that smile plastered across her face; it striked me more as wicked then sweet now.
"Mom, put the gun down." I said again slowly,
"But sweetie, they want to take you. I won't let them take you! You're mine! You're all mine!" she said in a shrill squeaky voice which made me flinch. She cocked the handheld nightmare Black Hand gun.
"Mom!" I cried as she set free the trigger.
"DUCK!" I screamed as I did exactly that. I hit the floor along with the boy. There wasn't much space between my mother and me, only about ten feet. I shouldn't have heard a second thump as something hit the ground behind me. I shouldn't have felt the warm sticky red liquid spreading beneath me. And most of all I shouldn't have heard the pain filled gasp as my best friend got shot. I swear id never get that sound out of my ears, id never get it out. The bitch who used to be my mother was howling and cackling like a mad scientist; but more like one who just shot her daughter's best friend. Well, not daughter. Foster daughter. This whole thought lasted about two seconds, and in no time flat, the boy had tackled my mother and did something with the shiny black thing. And then poof. She became a pile of yellow dust. I could barely hear my sobs as I sat up and shook my best friend's shoulder. There was blood everywhere, on my hands, on my clothes, and even on my face. Pink tinted drops of water hit the floor as my tears mixed with the fresh blood on my cheeks.
"Cassydi!" I screamed. I flipped her over on her back, she was still breathing, but it was more like chocking coughs that came up filled with blood. She'd been shot right through the heart I was sure. Her black hair was matted down against her neck, her green eyes were losing the light in them that I had come to know over the last year. The boy pushed me out of the way and took out a canteen from some random pocket in his jacket. He poured the majority of it in her mouth and tilted her head up so she could attempt to swallow, then poured the rest over the wound. Some of the skin closed up, but I knew no matter what he was putting on it, and making her drink, the wound was too much.
"Tell … tell Percy … tell my dad … I love them." She said so quietly I had to strain to hear even though I was only about 6 inches away. My vision blurred so much I didn't have time to see her green eyes freeze where they were. I was too numb to feel her body go slack against the hardwood floor. It was over. It was all over. My best friend was dead. My foster mom had combust into a pile of yellow powder, my life was over. The boy sat back on his heels, not really sure what to do with a sobbing girl who just lost her family. He put a hand on my shoulder and I immediately wrapped my arms around him and just kept crying until there was nothing left. It must have been at least and hour.
"Come on, we need to go." He whispered to me, his voice was higher than usual and anxious. I looked up; his brown eyes were staring into my own.
"Where are we going?" I said, sniffling.
"We're going to camp."
"What about … what about …" I couldn't say her name.
"Give me a second, I know what to do." He stood up, started walking towards the kitchen the hesitated.
"Come with me." he said outstretching his long olive skinned hand. Not knowing what else to do, I took it as he pulled me up and towards the kitchen sink. He took the sprayer from the sink and set it on fine mist. He propped it up so that it was making mist right in front of the window which was creating a rainbow. He fished something big and gold out of his pocket, then threw it at the mist. He muttered a few words in a foreign language, and then the mist shimmered. In front of me was a huge marble room full with adults and one child about twelve years old with long auburn hair. They all stopped what they were doing when the boy cleared his throat. One of the adults (they must have been at least twenty feet tall if not taller) stood up from a fishing chair; he had a worried expression on his face. His forehead was creased which looked highly un-natural on his face. He had a neatly trimmed black beard, curly black hair, and sea green eyes full of power. I knew instantly that he must have been Cassydi's father that she never talked about. He walked closer to the image.
"Nico, what's going on?" he said calmly. His voice was wavering; a sign he was about to lose it any minute now. After a long silence, the boy finally answered.
"Lord Poseidon … im, im so sorry." He said quietly. I could tell he was trying to keep it together too. The man bellowed in fury. I felt the earth shake. Let's just say im not the most coordinated person known to the earth, so I fell over and hit my head hard.
"Poseidon!" yelled another man; his voice sounded more powerful. And that was the last thing I heard.
I had some strange dream; I heard all of these voices talking about me, arguing about me, and talking to me.
"She looks nothing like me." said one female voice. And just the way the voice was shrill and high, made me think that the person talking was obviously very conceited.
"Well, she's not my daughter." Said another female scoffing.
"Aphrodite! Demeter! I thought we talked about this already. We know who she is!"
"Well excuse me! You haven't told anyone who she is! Not a person! Only you, Poseidon and Athena know!" yelled the first lady. Another woman spoke up, she sounded more sophisticated and intelligent then any of the others who had spoken.
"Lord Zeus, I will tell them. They deserve to know." I heard a bunch of shuffling around, then someone's hand on my forehead. The hand was big and warm. Not like, warm, I mean like HOT warm. Like it almost burnt my skin hot.
"She's burning up." Said a voice that sounded teenaged. Like a nineteen year old boy.
"Get her some nectar!" called the man who had spoken before.
"Go ahead Lady Athena."
"Olympians, Niki Fabrey is the daughter of Poseidon … and I." I heard a whole bunch of loud gasps. Then the yelling started. I felt something warm trickling down my throat, it tasted like Swedish berries; my favourite candy. My eyes were being forced open, but not by anybody. I didn't want to wake up yet; I wanted to see what the adults were yelling about. Because when I woke up, I knew I would be at home in my bed, dreading the next day of school. I was completely wrong. When I opened my eyes, the first person I saw was a blonde haired male model with bright gold eyes smiling down at me. I must've looked like a mess. I looked around the room, the eleven adults and child I had seen in the mist before.
"Hi?" I said unsure of my voice.
"Hey there Niki, im Phoebus Apollo." Said the male model, sticking his hand out towards me. I lifted my hand and shook his with a confused look on my face; the god laughed.
"Niki Fabrey?" I said, though it sounded more like a question then a reply. Everyone was looking at me curiously now; I wanted to scream at them to leave me alone. Id just lost my best friend in the entire world because my wacko foster mom had shot her and murdered her. Remembering that made tears come to my eyes, and everyone sort of backed off. Nobody wanted to have an over emotional sobbing tired teenage girl on their hands; but one woman stepped forward. She had blonde curly hair, storm grey eyes and she looked very intelligent.
"Hello my daughter, I am you're mother, Athena." I couldn't speak, tears where still clouding my vision. I simply nodded in shock. The man that had the neatly trimmed black beard, black curly hair and sea green eyes stepped up to her side and outstretched his hand.
"Niki, I am you're father, Poseidon." This was impossible. I looked nothing like either of them with my sapphire blue eyes and dark chocolate brown hair that was naturally pin straight. I simply nodded once more. The tears were brimming my eyes, dangerously close to streaming down my cheeks again.
"What happened to that boy?" I said out of curiosity. If I was right, and they weren't fooling with me, these were the Olympians; the gods of Greece. Another 'god' stepped forward, he was wearing flowing black robes that made me want to hide under a rock. I assumed out of all the 'gods' he must've been Hades.
"My son has gone back to camp to spread the word of Cassydi's death." He said almost caringly, like everyone had liked my best friend. Which was completely normal, everyone had loved her; she had that sort of personality.
"She will surely reach Elysium." He said loudly, as if assuring that everyone had heard. They all nodded solemnly.
"So … uh…" I said, not sure what to say exactly. The woman with the blonde curly hair who had had called herself Athena spoke once again,
"I should probably clear the confusion. See, 13 years ago, Poseidon and I had an agreement. Well, not exactly an agreement, but a prophecy given by this doofus over here," She said gesturing towards Apollo. He smirked and winked at me.
"The prophecy spoke of a child formed of two gods with powers unimaginable. I will not proceed to tell you all the prophecy because you will find out soon enough, but I will warn you Niki, there will be a war in the future. But for now, you must head off to camp half blood and harness you're powers. But do not get me wrong, you are not a demigod. You are a goddess." She finished off.
"Uh … uh … uh … of what?" I stuttered. My 'father' spoke.
"Olympians! Welcome my daughter Niki Fabrey, goddess of rivers, lakes, all fresh water body's of water, intelligence, fair judgement, and heroes!" he called, he seemed proud, but there was still signs of a great loss on his face. The gods cheered for me, but it was only half hearted. The loss of Cassydi still heavy on everyone's minds.
"Thanks." I murmured, I stood up shakily with the help of Apollo. He got a stern glare from Poseidon when he slipped his arm around my waist to help me stand. I looked around at all of the other gods, waiting for an introduction though I could practically tell who was who. The twelve year old girl stepped forward with a confident smile on her pretty face,
"Hello Niki, I am Lady Artemis." She spoke as I shook her hand. The gods formed a line in front of me. Next was a burly man wearing biker clothes. He sort of freaked me out a bit.
"Ares." He grunted not even looking at me as he walked off to another room. This went on for about five more minutes,
"Hades."
"Aphrodite. And you are so beautiful! I will have to tell my daughters not to try and give you a make over."
"Hephaestus."
"Dionysus." Grunted a man with slightly purple hair in a rather strange jogging suit with a gold name plate that read 'Mr. D'.
"Hermes. And, I like you, so id watch my possessions near my kids. They get a little carried away sometimes."
"Hera."
"Lord Zeus. I welcome you on behalf of all the Olympians. Welcome home Niki." He said as he shook my hand with a firm grip. I nodded as the last god walked off. Now it was only my mother, father and I left standing in the great room.
"You must be getting to camp now Niki, its getting dark out. We will see you to the elevator, but then, you are on your own. When you get down to the lobby, there will be a white van that say's 'Delphi Strawberry co.' the security guard Argus will be waiting for you. We shall leave now." said my mom. I shrugged as the three of us walked out of the throne room and down a path lined with marble columns. I got some curious stares from some of the immortals, and some even bowed to me respectfully.
"So, how did I get here exactly?" I was seriously curious.
"Well, after Nico gave us the news through iris message about Cassydi, you're father here got mad and made an earthquake 5 on the rictor scale. So you fell, and Nico shadow traveled the both of you and Cassydi here. And then you woke up." Said my mom.
"Oh. So, 'Nico' is the son of Hades?"
"Yes, and a sort of annoying one at that." Said my mom bitterly.
"Oh." I said quietly, just thinking bout everything that had just happened.
"You should hurry to camp; they are going to light Cassydi's burial shroud soon. Poseidon gave his blessing while you were asleep, then the fates took her body to camp to prepare for the ceremony. Her brother Perseus will be giving a speech." Said Athena. She said 'Perseus' with a bite.
"Ill hurry I guess." By this time, we were already at the elevator waiting for the doors to slide open.
Bing!
The doors slid open and I stepped in giving my parents one last glance. They both had reassuring but sad smiles on their faces.
"Bye." I said as the door closed. I pressed the down button and the cheesy elevator music started dribbling through the speakers. When the door opened I was ready to claw out the hidden speakers. No wonder they were hidden otherwise im sure that some demigod along the years would have ripped them out already. I walked out into the lobby and the guy reading the book at his desk didn't give me a second glance, apparently he knew where I had been. Whatever. I continued to walk out the door and just like my mother had said, there was a white van that read, Delphi strawberry CO. in the drivers seat was a man with blonde hair and blue eyes. And when I say eyes, I mean like, hundreds of eyes. Some of them were half asleep too. This must be Argus. I knocked on the window lightly; apparently he knew who I was supposed to be and turned the keys in the ignition. I opened the back door and slid in. what my parents hadn't told me was that 'Nico' the son of Hades would be sitting in the other seat sleeping. Once I had my belt buckle done up, we started to drive. I didn't know whether I should wake him or not, I decided to anyways. I shook his shoulder and his eyes opened groggily. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye and suddenly sat up straight in his seat. I thought this was kid of funny, so I laughed a bit. He smiled uneasily. I stuck out my hand, he took it.
"Niki Fabrey. Nice to meet you." I said giving him a reassuring smile. His came back genuine.
"Nico Di Angelo, son of Hades. Nice to meet you too Niki." He said. I suppose I should tell him who I am …
"Um, well, I guess you should know who I am … im sort of a goddess?" it ended as a question like all my sentences did when I was nervous about something. He didn't look all that shocked.
"Thought so, no normal demigods could take that much nectar or you'd be dead already." He said chuckling.
"What's nectar?" I asked stupidly.
"It's the drink of the gods. Demigods like myself can have some, but if we have to much we spontaneously combust. Very painful ive heard." He said giving me a wink. It was dark in the car so I hoped he didn't notice when I blushed.
"So, what are you goddess of?" he asked casually. I tried to remember, but I don't think I needed to because the answers came right to my mouth.
"Rivers, Lakes, any body of fresh water really. Intelligence, fair judgement and heroes." I said, sort of surprised when the words rushed out of my mouth.
"Sounds like you're a daughter of Poseidon." He said, almost glumly. That sentence made me think of Cassydi.
"She was a daughter of Poseidon too wasn't she?" he knew who I meant.
"Yeah, she sort of annoyed me, but everyone liked her. Well, except Apollo really. He tried to hit on her once, so she slapped him across the face at the winter solstice." He laughed quietly, remembering the times when she was still alive.
"Even my dad like her …" he trailed off.
"Everyone at school loved her. She wasn't popular, but even the popular kids respected her. She stood her ground. Never backed down." I said finishing the conversation. I don't think either of us wanted to talk about this right now.
"So, you're a goddess hey?" he said quietly. He was fiddling with his hands; I don't think he could knew that I could see him. He seemed nervous.
"Yeah, the strange part is; I thought Athena and Poseidon hated each other." I said glumly. This wasn't exactly how I had planned out my life.
"Wait! Athena and Poseidon? Are you serious! Annabeth and Percy are gonna be so mad!" he said, doubling over he was laughing so hard. I think I even heard a chuckle from the front seat.
"Who is Annabeth? And who's Percy?" I asked, confused.
"Annabeth's a daughter of Athena, and her boyfriend is Percy, son of Poseidon. I wonder what they'll think when you get there. That's gonna be so funny! I can't wait to see the look on Annabeth's face! I have to bring my camera, surely a picture of that will pay well from the Stoll brothers!" he said still laughing hard. I think he was crying too.
"Who are the Stoll brothers? Let me guess, sons of Hermes?" I said remembering that Hermes was the god of Thieves. Thunder boomed in the car around us, Nico stopped laughing.
"And Travel!" I added quickly. Nico looked at me with a confused look. I rolled my eyes and we both laughed together. I was really tired.
"Nico, how long does it take to get to camp?" I asked while yawning.
"About another hour and a half longer. You don't need to come to the shroud burning if you don't want to." He added almost silently.
"Of course im coming. She was my best friend." I replied slowly. I stretched my arms in a cat stretch then leaned my head against the window.
I must've been cold because when I woke up, Nico's black leather jacket was covering me like a blanket. I also wasn't leaning against the window either. Instead, my head was on someone's lap. Someone take a lucky guess. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out hey? But I didn't mind being there; Nico was warm, and comfortable. I was being shaken awake when I actually opened my eyes.
"Hey, we're at camp, they are burning the shroud in five minutes, we need to hurry!" he said quietly, but loud enough for me to hear. I sat up kind of groggily and rubbed my eyes. I ran my hands through my long brown hair and shivered at the cold air that was coming from the open door.
"You can wear my jacket." He offered. It was freezing out here! And he was only wearing a fitted black t-shirt. I couldn't take his jacket from him; he'd get sick and die!
"No, its ok." I said trying to give him back the jacket, but he wouldn't take it.
"No, trust me; children of Hades don't mind the cold. After all, we do spend a lot of time in the underworld. Which doesn't have a heater. So you can imagine …" he said laughing at his own joke which I didn't really get at all. After he figured out I wasn't going to take the jacket, he took it in his hands and we started walking up a steep hill. When we got to the top, we stopped for a minute to catch our breath near a ginormous pine tree which had something shimmering and gold on the lowest branch. Oh, I forgot to mention the huge reptilian creature wrapped around its trunk. Oops. I didn't have any time to speak when Nico slid the jacket over my shoulders. He probably noticed that I was shivering. I sighed and gave in sliding my arms through the sleeves. Wow, I must be smaller than I thought; the jacket was huge on me! But it fit him a little loosely too, so whatever. He grabbed my wrist as he started running down the hill at full speed towards a huge crowd of people standing in front of a bon fire. A boy a few years older than me with black hair and puffy red sea green eyes was standing next to a pile of wood which held a coffin on top. A sea green satin shroud was lying over the coffin; it had a blue trident embroidered into it. It was beautiful. Or it would be if it hadn't been for my best friend I thought bitterly. We walked up to the front of the crowd getting a lot of stares and giggles. Nico walked up to who I assumed was Percy, whispered something in his ear then walked back to my side.
"That's Percy right?" I asked quietly turning my head to face Nico's ear. He nodded once with a seriously, and sad expression on his face. Percy looked straight at me, but not with hate, sort of with an 'I understand it wasn't you're fault and I don't blame you for what happened' look. I nodded and he looked away, making sure he knew that I got his message. He started to speak.
"Cassydi was my sister, one of my best friends. She was loved by all except maybe Apollo …" he said as everybody laughed sadly remembering the incident Nico had told me about, then continued. "She was a hero, and will always be remembered as one. She died saving one of the most important people on this earth right now, and I hope that we can all remember her, and that she will never fade from our memories." He finished, his eyes brimming up with tears as he spoke. A camper that stood nearby handed him a lit torch and we all watched in silence (with the exception of those crying) and he dropped it and the smell of the sea hit the air. We watched the shroud burn until it was just a small pile of ashes on the ground. A salty fresh breeze blew through the small clearing and blew the ashes away so that there was nothing left of my best friend. Everybody mourned for a few more minutes before dispersing in separate directions. When everyone was gone, only five people stayed behind. Percy, who I assumed was Annabeth, Nico, a girl with black punk hair and clothing and myself. I was still in Nico's jacket, so I got some looks from the two other girls that were coming towards us. I didn't notice, but I was crying as well. Not like, bawling like I had before, but I was crying. Nico's thumb brushed my cheek as he wiped away a tear. I turned in to him and hugged him. He hugged me back, but not like he was going to kill me, more like he wanted me to know that he was there. someone coughed. It was the punk girl. Nico and I broke apart, a little embarrassed. The girl stuck out her hand and said,
"Thalia, daughter of Zeus. Nice to meet you." Her voice was hoarse, like she had also been crying though her face showed no sign of emotion at all. The blonde girl stepped up next.
"Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, nice to meet you." She said. You could plainly see that she had been crying as well, she didn't try to cover it up. I nodded as Percy stepped towards me, hand outstretched.
"Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon. Nice to meet you." Was that the official greeting they used at this camp? Every single camper who id met so far had said their names, daughter of … son of … and all finished with 'nice to meet you [insert name here].' Kind of strange, but I wasn't about to question them.
"Niki Fabrey, daughter of Athena and Poseidon. Nice to meet you all." My voice wavered. The looks on Annabeth's and Percy's faces were absolutely and completely shocked. They both sputtered. But before anyone could break the silence with words, a short, throaty laugh came from Thalia.
"Are … you … serious?" she said as she laughed. The sky rumbled a warning. She stood up straight, wiping the tears tinted with black eyeliner from her face as she calmed herself down. She looked at me once more and couldn't hold it back. I felt like laughing too, my life was a joke to her. That hurt. I looked around uncomfortably. Someone trotted into the clearing. Yeah, I said trotted. The man/horse (I think their called centaurs ..?) walked/trotted up to where we were standing in the middle of the clearing. He smiled grimly at me.
"Hello there Niki, I am Chiron, the camps activity director. We don't have a cabin for you yet, but be assured that in the next two weeks I will have the Hephaestus cabin build one for you. Until then, you are welcome to stay at the big house in one of our guest rooms. I will give you you're schedule tomorrow at breakfast which is at 8:00 sharp. Nico here will give you a tour around camp, and explain things a little more and answer any questions you may have. If you would follow me, I would gladly show you to you're room." He said in a formal voice. I looked back and forth between everyone and they all nodded. Even Thalia seemed to compose herself enough when this Chiron guy was around. I shrugged and started slipping off Nico's jacket when he put a hand on my shoulder.
"Ill get it tomorrow." He whispered in my ear. It sent shivers down my spine. I just nodded and walked off with Chiron. He hesitated for a moment before turning his head and calling back to the group of teenagers,
"You must be getting to you're cabins, the harpies will be out soon enough." They all nodded and went separate directions. We continued walking until we reached what looked like a huge light blue farm house. He trotted up the steps to a wheelchair that was parked by the door. He sat down in it somehow and his form became that of a man in a wheelchair which kind of freaked me out a bit, but then again, this had been a very interesting day. He wheeled himself down the hallway when he got to a room numbered 'room 6'. He turned his chair towards me,
"This will be you're home for the next week until we have all recovered from such a great loss. The alarm clock beside you're bed has already been set for an hour before breakfast. Good night Niki, sleep safe." He said as he rolled of towards a door marked 'Rec. room.' A sign taped just below it said 'If anyone disturbs my games of pinochle, I will personally turn them into grape vines for the rest of their puny little lives. Ugh … heroes. – Mr. D.' I had to laugh a bit, Chiron turned his head towards me, I pointed to the sign; he sighed and shook his head. I opened the door in front of me to see a plain room with nothing really special about it. I had a dresser (which was already filled with clothes just my size … I don't know how they did that …?), my own bathroom with a bathtub and a shower, a queen sized bed with sea green satin sheet's with little grey owls on it. Obviously they had planned for my arrival, and knew who I was. Or these were just really cool sheet's that changed pattern when someone different was staying here. I hoped for the second option. I kicked off my shoes, grabbed some pyjamas from the dresser, got changed then flopped down in my bed. I flicked off a light switch that was beside my bed and the room went dark. Not eerily dark, but peaceful dark. I fell asleep fast that night and for once; I dreamt of nothing.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP! Ugh … I lifted my hand from under my head and slammed it down on the highly annoying piece of plastic that was pissing me off currently. I opened my eyes against my will knowing that if I kept them closed I would miss breakfast and lunch. I stood up slowly trying to gain my balance and looked around the room. I walked over to the chair that had Nico's jacket slung over the shoulder. Something was sticking out of the pocket. Something black and silver. I walked over clumsily and stuck my hand in the pocket. I pulled out the Ipod touch and pressed the unlock button. A password keyboard appeared on the screen. I took a random guess and typed in 'Hades' surprise, surprise it worked. That child needs a better password I thought as I walked back over to the alarm clock (which was also an Ipod dock) and plugged the Ipod in. I scrolled through the songs not very surprised to find a lot of rock, metal and punk. I found one band that I was surprised to find on there, and also one of my favourites. It might've been a Canadian band, but they were by far pretty amazing. And nobody had really heard of them here, so I took advantage of that when they came for concerts. I put on 'Good to you.' By none other than Marianas Trench, and let it blast silently (if that's possible) through the speakers. (A/N: I'm Canadian, so I just had to add a little something, you know ;D) I sang along as I got ready for the day ahead of me. Of course I turned it off when I had a shower and stuff, but I turned it back on when I was getting dressed, happy to have something that stayed the same even though my whole life had changed literally overnight. When I was ready, it was about ten to eight. I grabbed the Ipod touch and Nico's jacket and walked out of the room, down the hall and out the front door. I saw Chiron sitting at a table on the porch playing cards with … Dionysus? Ahhh … that might explain the name tag that said 'Mr. D' that he was wearing yesterday.
"Chiron, uh …" I said looking around, he must've known what was wrong.
"Just down that path and to you're right. Huge Greek style building, you wont miss it." he said smiling. Dionysus grumbled something about stupid campers. I raised an eyebrow, not sure what I could make happen, but the sky rumbled. He looked up from his hand, from me to the sky and back. He rolled his eyes and continued playing, Chiron chuckled. With a happy sigh, I walked down the porch stairs and to where Chiron had pointed out to me. Sure enough, there was a huge Greek style pavilion. I walked into it and stopped where I stood. I had absolutely no idea where to sit. There were tables filled with kids that all looked alike; probably all siblings. I found only two tables that had each only one person, and one table was completely empty. I figured that these were the big three tables because I had heard that it was rare for them to be born, but I didn't see Thalia anywhere. The two boys sitting alone at the tables looked up and gave me half smiles. Nico was one of them, and Percy was the other. It must have been really hard for him sitting alone at his table knowing his sister was never going to come back. Pang! Yeah, that's the sound of my heart dropping into my stomach remembering Cassydi. I walked over to where Nico was eating his pancakes and eggs and handed him his jacket.
"Didn't think that you were the kind of guy to listen to Marianas Trench. Im proud." I said smiling. He flushed.
"How did you know my password?" he asked embarrassed.
"Well, 'Hades' isn't a very good password for a son of Hades." I said smirking. He rolled his eyes and laughed.
"Yeah, their not bad. My personal favourite has got to be 'Shake tramp' from their first album though." I shrugged,
"Mines definitely 'Good to you.', especially when they perform it live, gosh." I said sighing. What makes Canadian boys so hot? I still can't believe that I didn't get to meet him at their last concert I went to. I totally slapped myself in the face after that. Nico laughed,
"You should get to the head table before Mr. D gets mad. The sky's already rumbled today."
"There's more then one god here yenno." I said winking as I walked away leaving his jacket on the table. He probably didn't realize I still had his Ipod. Sucker. Anyways, I walked over to where Chiron was standing at the end of a table in horse form. I sat down at the table across from nobody. The only other patrons of the table where Mr. D, and some random guys who kept staring at me funny. I looked around, uncomfortable. There was nobody for me to talk to. My food appeared on a silver plate in front of me. Following the example of all of the campers I rose from the table, walked over to the fire pit in the middle of the room, and waited in a line of campers. They all muttered words in a foreign language which I assumed was Greek. When it was finally my turn, I dumped some food into the fire and muttered a prayer to my parents which everyone else had been doing. The air filled with the smell of sea water and something else I couldn't exactly place … flowers maybe? I shrugged and walked back to the table and continued to eat. When I was done, Chiron trotted over to me and handed me a slip of blue paper. My schedule. I unfolded it and read:
8:00-9:00 breakfast
9:00-9:30 prepare for day
9:30-11:50 training with big three kids at arena
11:50-12:50 lunch
1:00-2:30 free time with big three kids (when called, war council meeting in big house with cabin counsellors.)
3:00-5:20 training with big three kids at archery range
5:35-6:10 dinner
6:20-7:00 free time (on Friday's strategise with team for capture the flag)
(On Friday's 7:00-7:30 prepare for capture the flag)
7:00-9:00 free time (7:30 on Friday's for capture the flag.)
9:00-4:00AM curfew
Wow. Long enough schedule don't you think?
"Thanks." I said looking it over again and walking out of the pavilion. I checked my watch; I had about ten minutes until my training started. I ran back to my room in the big house and changed quickly into something more suitable for training then supper skinny jeans and a long sleeve grey and black volcom shirt. I walked over to my dresser and searched through all of the clothes that were folded and piled neatly inside of it. I finally decided on a pair of jean short short's and an orange camp shirt. I quickly pulled my long dark brown hair into a messy ponytail, grabbed my schedule off the top of my dresser, pulled on my black converse sneakers and ran out of the farm house and down towards the arena. I checked my watch as I was running and groaned, I was already five minutes late. I hated being late, but this was a usual commodity to me. I was always late for school, no matter how early I try to get up, Im always late. And most of my teachers hated me for it. Haha goodbye suckers, no more school for me! Score. Following this thought I ran through the doors of the huge arena that looked more like a professional soccer arena, complete with stands for viewers. I saw two other kids standing in the arena, I recognized them as Nico and Percy. Great, I was officially the only girl. But what about Thalia? She was the daughter of Zeus right? She should be here to. I thought as I walked up to the guys.
"Sorry im late." I mumbled. They didn't see me until I was standing right there.
"No, its ok. Its you're first day." Said Percy. I looked around, searching for anyone else.
"Where's Thalia? She's daughter of Zeus right? Shouldn't she be here?" I asked curiously.
"She's not a camper anymore," Said Percy almost bitterly. "It's just us now." he continued.
"Why isn't she here? She was here last night."
"Did you meet Artemis yesterday?" questioned Percy.
"What's that got to do with anything?" I had, but what did it seriously have to do with Thalia?
"Im surprised."
"At what?"
"She didn't ask you to be a hunter?"
"What's a 'hunter'?" I said putting air quotes around the word. Both guys laughed and I felt stupid already.
"Ok, you know how Lady Artemis is an eternal maiden right?" said Percy through his laughing.
"Yeah."
"Well she's got a group of girls all around you're age that have joined her in eternal maiden hood. Their called the hunters of Artemis because, well … they hunt monsters and go on quest's with her and stuff."
"Oh. Makes sense I guess."
"But the weird thing is I don't know how she puts up with a whole bunch of immortal preppy tween girls. Ugh." Percy shuttered just at the thought. I had to admit, that wouldn't be the kind of life I'd choose for myself. he was about to say something else when something silver and big shot out of nowhere and bounced off of his shoulder with a metallic clang! He bent down and picked up the full sized arrow off the ground that said something in Greek on the side.
"What's it say?" I said stepping closer trying to read it.
"It say's: don't talk about the hunter's while we're still here. We're not deaf yenno."
"It does not!" I said laughing almost as hard as Nico was now. He passed me the arrow and the words rearranged themselves so I could read it perfectly. It said: Thalia Grace; Hunter and Lieutenant of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Then the following message: don't talk about the hunter's while we're still here. We're not deaf yenno. –T. I was now laughing so hard I was rolling around on the ground at Percy's feet, he was laughing too.
"Come on Thalia! Not funny!" he called out. His voice echoed through the empty arena. I heard footsteps running down the stairs and saw Thalia with a silver bow and quiver slung across her back with a wide grin spread across her face. Something was in her hair that I hadn't noticed last night; a silver band was braided into her punk styled hair at the crown of her head.
"Hey Niki!" she said cheerfully walking to the middle of the arena.
"You're lucky im invincible or you'd be in so much trouble!" said Percy with a side of comedy. She punched him in the arm hard as she chuckled.
"Lady Artemis let me off when we heard the news. Do you think that she'd make me go back to the hunt right away? Haha sucker. You've got to deal with me for the next two weeks!" I smiled, now I wasn't the only girl Thankgods. Wow, let that one slip didn't i?
"So! Are we going to train or are we just going to stand here all day and beat on Percy?" she asked with all seriousness. My grin faded. How was I supposed to fight without a weapon?
"Um, not to bring down the mood … but im sort of weapon-less at the moment." I pointed out. She thought for a minute,
"That's true I guess. Come with me, we'll find you something to use." She said grabbing my wrist and pulling me towards the door I had just come through. She dragged me down the path to a cabin marked 'cabin 5'. By the looks of the kids hanging around, and the look of the cabin itself I was guessing this was the cabin for the kids of Hephaestus. Thalia knocked on the door loudly, I could hear rock music and pounding metal coming from inside. The pounding stopped and the door creaked open. Heat blasted our faces, it must have been at least 30 degrees in there. The guy looked like he was probably about 15/16 years old, he had tan skin, big brown eyes, and brown curly hair. He had some black stuff on his cheek, and work gloves on his hands. Like I had seen on the people hanging around this cabin, he was wearing an engineer suit. The name tag said 'Mikaus.' (A/N: pronounced Mikayus.),
"Hey Mikaus, Niki here needs a weapon worthy of a goddess." She said grinning. A small smile cracked on his face as he looked me over, but not in a creepy way, more like he was sizing me up. This was kind of weird I guess but oh well. He held up a finger signalling us to wait for a moment as he ran back inside his cabin and fished around in a small wooden box. He came back holding a pair of silver wrist cuffs. He handed them to me.
"Try 'em on, dad sent the blue prints just yesterday. Sent them saying that you would come soon enough." I did as instructed and slid the metal cuffs on my wrist'. They fit perfectly. They were long enough to cover my wrist' but they didn't interfere when I moved my wrist' back and forth. On the top you could clearly see the symbol of a trident on the left cuff; and an owl on the right cuff. Mom and dad I thought. They seemed fitting. I looked up and smiled at Mikaus who had an expectant glint in his eyes.
"Their awesome, thanks!" I said happily. He gleamed; I could tell he was proud. While I was admiring my new wrist cuffs, Mikaus was explaining how to use them
"Basically, the one with the symbol of Lord Poseidon is a sword. And the one with the symbol of Lady Athena is a shield which resembles Thalia's," she smirked at his worried glance. Thalia kept rubbing the silver bracelet attached to her left wrist. She smiled wickedly.
"Just think of them and they'll transform." I was still in awe. And very curious of what Thalia's shield looked like. And why did she keep rubbing her bracelet? Jeez, I thought I was strange.
"Thanks Mikaus!" called Thalia pulling me back down the path towards the arena.
"Nice doing buisness with you!" I shouted, making sure he heard me. I heard someone laugh and a door closed. The loud rock and banging continued to follow us until we passed the stables. Or what I assumed where the stables from the smell. We walked back into the arena to find Percy and Nico going at it with full force. They were pretty even though Nico was fourteen and Percy was turning eighteen (I had learnt this from Thalia as we had been walking back from the Hephaestus cabin.). They didn't even stop when we came walking in. Once again Thalia pulled me by the wrist (what is with that anyways?) as she ran towards the stands. She was cheering for Nico. I figured I should join in.
"WOOOH! GO NICO! KICK PERCY'S BUTT!" was basically what you could hear for the next five minutes before Percy got distracted for a moment and Nico took the moment to knock Percy's sword out of his hand. Thalia and I high-fived then ran down towards the duellers. Percy sighed and clapped Nico on the back,
"Ya did good kid." He said grinning as he walked to the water cooler. I thought of something funny. Percy walked towards the water cooler. Percy = son of Poseidon lord of the sea (and my dad). Percy + water = WATER FIGHT! I was right like always.
"WATER FIGHT!" he called as he ripped off the lid of the water cooler using his powers to make the water rise out of the cooler which had been pretty full since we were the first campers training here this morning. The water moved to his every will, and headed straight for Thalia and Nico.
"TEAMS! I GET NICO!" I called grabbing him just as the water was supposed to hit us.
"HAHA! DAUGHTER OF POESIDON SUCK IT JACKSON!" I said laughing shrilly as I got blasted by the water.
The whole battle lasted about three minutes until everyone was completely soaked and the water cooler was empty. By the end we were all rolling around on the ground laughing so hard some people came to check on us in case Mr. D had gotten annoyed with us and turned us crazy because apparently he had done that before. When we finished laughing, we all sat on the bleachers and just talked about life really. They asked me how long I had known Cassydi for, I told them I had known her about a year when she first came to my school. We talked about the history of the camp, and they told me all about the war two years ago. Percy especially gave detail to when Nico came with his dad and saved the day. He also winked at me when he mentioned that. Im pretty sure both Nico and I blushed. When I finally checked my watch (which was waterproof) it was 11:45. Lunch was in five minutes.
"Guys, we need to hurry, lunch is in five minutes!" I said standing up with the rest of them. And with that we all ran towards the dining pavilion hoping to not be late. We ran in just in time and sat down at our appropriate tables. I asked Chiron if I could sit with Percy because my dad was Poseidon, and he had to give in.
"Hey, Percy, can I sit with you?" I asked him as he sat down t the table after talking with Annabeth for a minute.
"Yeah, sure! I sort of feel bad for Nico though, no half siblings. Must be pretty lonely over there." he said smiling. I rolled my eyes.
"What is with you? You keep talking about Nico around me! Jeez, wow." I said smirking. He smiled evilly at me.
"What?" I asked exasperated after a few minutes of that really creepy smile.
"You two should go out." he finally decided.
"What makes you think that?" I said slowly, looking at my barbeque chicken pizza.
"You guys would be awesome together, and you can tell he likes you. It's obvious!" he said raising his hands like a 'DUH! Everyone knows it!' gesture. I had to laugh, he looked somewhat like an idiot.
"From what I hear you sound like an Aphrodite girl." He stuck out his tongue at me. He really did feel like an older brother. I had a creepy random thought.
"Wow. I just realized something. If you're my older brother, and Annabeth's my older sister, then you are dating you're Sister Percy Jackson! HA! SCORE!" I said the last part so loudly that everyone stopped to stare at me. Did I mention I had stood up? Yeah well I sat back down with a blush creeping on my face. Percy laughed at me and looked over my shoulder, then winked at someone. I turned my head around to see Nico blushing and looking down at his food. I turned my head back around and smacked Percy in the arm.
"Hey? What was that for?" he complained rubbing his arm. I just smiled and shook my head looking down at my food.
"Oh, you so want to go out with him. Just admit it, you want to kiss him!" he said poking me in the shoulder. I kept my head down, but I was sure he could see when I blushed crimson. He likes you, you know! You two would be the perfect couple! A goddess, daughter of Poseidon and Athena falling in love with the dark and mysterious only son of Hades! I can see the headlines already! Said a shrill high voice in my head. I had a theory to test out.
"Percy, has a god ever spoken to you in you're head like they were spying on you?" I asked casually, hoping he wouldn't catch on.
"Um, yeah, sometimes I guess. Mostly it's only Aphrodite messing with my head … wait, AHAHAHAHA!" he said pointing and laughing at me.
"Shut up!" I said trying to cover his mouth with my hand, he bit me and kept laughing.
"Aphrodite! You! Nico! Knew it! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" I made a frustrated sound, stood up and stomped away from the table and out of the dinning pavilion. I was sure nobody had followed me down the path to the beach. I didn't know why I chose the beach, but I guess the daughter of Poseidon part of me chose it. I sat down with a huff in the sand near the water. I slid off my sneakers and socks a dipped my toes into the ocean. I didn't feel all that tired suddenly and my senses picked up on somebody walking behind me. I dried off my feet and put my sneakers back on. I turned my head just to see a dark shape sitting next to me. I looked back out at the ocean.
"You know, you shouldn't be this close to the water. Ive heard my dad isn't that forgiving." I told him.
"But what's the point of me sitting all the way back there, when you're all the way up here?" he countered. I shrugged and didn't speak. My gaze was fixed on a wave nearing the shore, I saw a face in it. A face. Hmm … Seeing a face in the waves made me think of when I was younger and my other foster mom took me to the beach. I used to always tell her about the pretty faces in the waves until one day she told me to stop talking about it otherwise she would have to send me to a mental hospital. That's when things went down hill with her, and that's also the year I got shipped off to live with my last wacko foster mom. That evil bitch. I thought to myself. His arm slid down to my waist, it was long, warm and not too muscular, but just right for a fourteen year old.
"Percy was right." I said, sort of surprised.
"About what?' asked Nico looking at me. I faced him, about to spell something out very clearly to him.
"I do want to kiss you." I said quietly as I looked back to the ocean. It was only silence for a moment. I thought I had made a huge mistake. Im such an idiot! ARGH! He finally spoke.
"Maybe Annabeth was right. I want to kiss you too." I didn't have time to look away from the ocean before he softly kissed the corner of my mouth. His lips were soft, and they had certain coldness to them, but it wasn't an uncomfortable cold. It fit him perfectly. He moved his lips slowly away from mine, breathing hard like what I did next was going to change his life. I rested my head on his shoulder and put my arm around his waist too. I closed my eyes and just breathed. He smells good. Wow, such a random thought to ruin the moment. Good job Niki's conscience.
"You smell good." I murmured. He chuckled,
"Thanks? Most people say I smell like dead people."
"I don't think so."
"Well, tell me, what do I smell like then?" I could tell he was smiling.
"You smell like … a mix of mint and vanilla."
"That's an extremely weird combination. Especially since I don't like mint or vanilla." He said chuckling softly.
"Must be Aphrodite." I said while sighing.
"Must be." He place his hand under my chin and lifted my face to meet his. Our lips met and I felt that cold sensation again, this time it sent shivers down my spine, just like it had when he whispered to me last night. I was so concentrated on Nico, and his lips that I didn't hear when someone snuck up behind us. Well, two someone's.
"AWWWWWE!" they cried at the same time. We pulled apart in surprise as Percy tackled Nico and Annabeth tackled me.
"KNEW IT!" cried Percy laughing. By the time we had both gotten Percy and Annabeth off of us, we were all laughing and smiling. Nico and Percy walked over to us (we were about ten feet apart) and Nico sat down beside me, and Percy next to Annabeth. Percy had his arm around Annabeth's shoulders, but Nico did him one better by putting him around my wait letting it rest on my hip. Annabeth started giggling when Percy kissed her cheek. She also turned pink. These two had been going out for two years, been best friend for seven and survived four quest's and one titan war. And yet nothing had come between them. I hope that could be Nico and I one day. Nico hugged me closer to his side. He was warm I do have to admit, and it was pretty cold out here with the ocean breeze near us.
"Hey, ive got an idea. It's Monday night, so there's campfire tonight. You guys want to ditch and go on a double date?" asked Annabeth. We were all to shocked that Annabeth would even think about skipping something to respond. Instead we all just stared at her with our jaws in the sand.
"What?' she said, squirming kind of uncomfortably next to Percy. He broke out laughing.
"You? Annabeth Olivia Chase. Want to skip a camp activity? I am shocked!" said Percy with faux horror. She punched him in the side.
"Don't call me by my full name Perseus Michael Jackson." She said seriously. He smirked,
"Im just kidding with ya wise girl."
"I know that."
"Then why did you punch me?"
"Because it's fun." She said slugging him in the side again. We all laughed that time. Percy turned back to us,
"So, you two hey?" he said winking. What is with this child and winking at people?
"I guess so." Nico answered for me with a 'no duh dip stick' ring in his voice.
"And you guy's are happy?" asked Annabeth. Nico let me answer this one.
"No, im dying in a pit of endless despair." I said with a serious face.
"Hey! I was just asking!" she said putting her hands up in her defence. I cracked a smile which Nico kissed the corner of.
"As long as you guys don't take it too far, and Nico, there is protection in my cabin …" that stopped us cold.
"EW! NO! PERCY! UGH YOU'RE SUCH AN OLDER BROTHER!" I complained as Annabeth had a laughing fit. Nico just kind of sat there, really embarrassed. Same as me.
"I was just telling you …" he said getting a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Well that was kind of un-necessary!" I complained until he finally apologized.
"Gods, I was just kidding." He really shouldn't have said gods … a wicked smile smashed on my face as he realized where he was sitting.
"Son of Poseidon, can't get wet." He said trying to mock me. But this plan was worth Athena's approval. Jeez, I really do take after my parents don't i? Instead of soaking him like he expected me to, I turned my face to the sky and called,
"MOM! PERCY IS TRYING TO SLEEP WITH ANNABETH!"
"You didn't!" I winked as a flash of light came from behind me as we all closed our eyes. Well, I didn't have to because I was a goddess and all. A very, very angry Athena came stomping on to the beach shaking it with every step she took.
"POSEIDON!" she hollered as a green flash came from behind Percy and Annabeth. Yet again, I didn't have to close my eyes. Athena stomped over to Percy and lifted him by his collar. I winked at Annabeth to let her know that I was just going to let this go on until she was actually going to kill him. She nodded and gave a small wicked smile. My mother started swearing in all different languages; there must have been at least 24 that I could count. My father ran out of the sea and looked at me. I smiled and looked down, he knew what was going on. I doubt he had been very far from shore when I got here alone. He'd been there the whole time. Ugh, that's even worse then when you go on a date to the movies and just as the guys gonna kiss you you're dad pop's up from nowhere and yells at him? Yeah, waaaay worse then that.