A/N: If you have been following this story from before Christmas of 2016 I suggest you go back and re-read the first chapter. I am rewriting this and the first chapter is all about Danae's mom Cassandra. This one is a more in depth look at Danae's childhood and the time leading up to where the story starts. I may or may not have gotten away with myself on this chapter as well as I did the last one.
Please review and enjoy the second chapter of Danae's Gift.
Danae Aradia Prewett's first memory was of playing Hide and Seek her cousins. They were all in the back of her Aunt and Uncle's bedroom closet. Bill and Charlie had the youngest three huddled in the corner with them two closer to the door. Danae was just shy of turning three years old and was cranky from being woken from her nap. She had dropped Fuzzle, her stuffed Jarvey, in the rush to get to the closet and the little girl was close to a tantrum.
"Why are we hiding?" She whined loudly, glaring up at the two older boys when they shushed her. Tears welled in her eyes as she crossed her arms and thumped her leg on the ground. Bill ignored her but Charlie bent down and faced her with a tense smile. He grabbed Danae's hands softly and spoke to her in a hushed whisper.
"Because we're playing Hide and Seek. We can't leave until Mum and Dad come get us." Danae frowned at his answer. That was not how one played Hide and Seek. When she informed him this Charlie gave her a weird look that made her think he was mad. "Yes, but this is a special version of the game. We're hiding from bad guys who are seeking for us." Billy hissed out Charlie's name angrily then but the other boy ignored him.
"She's not going to remember this anyway Billy." He snapped to the eldest brother before turning back to Danae. "That's why we have to hide until Mum and Dad come find us. Do you understand now?" Danae pursed her lips unhappily but nodded her head. If bad people were out there then Fuzzle might be in danger. Billy told her to shut up when she voiced her concern, making her cry.
"Now look at what you've done!" Charlie whispered, trying to calm her down before she woke Percy and the twins who had fallen back asleep as soon as they got there. Billy said a naughty word and squatted down in front of her before slamming a hand over her wailing mouth. Danae stopped crying and hiccupped silently behind his hand as she stared back at him. She had never seen him so mad before.
"Shut. Up." He hissed. "Didn't you just hear Charlie? We have to be quiet or the bad guys will come get us. Got it?" Danae nodded her head and Billy released her. She continued to silently cry as the two straightened and faced the front of the closet. Charlie nudged Billy lightly after a moment's pause.
"What happened to not saying anything?" He asked. Billy glanced back at Danae who was slowly crying herself to sleep. He shrugged and turned his attention back to the front.
"Like you said, it's not like she'll remember it anyway." But she did remember. And so every time they had to play Hide and Seek, she made sure to grab Fuzzle so he wouldn't get left behind. That was Danae first became aware of the dangerous times that surrounded her family. While she might not have understood completely, it was obvious that bad things must be happening somewhere and it somehow got involved with her life.
When Danae was four years old her life was irrevocably changed. Aunt Molly took Danae on a special trip to Diagon Alley. Danae was dressed up in her best clothes and Uncle Arthur would be watching the others for the day. When Danae asked why the others weren't coming Aunt Molly was helping her put her jacket on. Aunt Molly paused in her actions and looked at Danae with shiny eyes. Danae wondered if she was going to cry.
"It's because today is going to be a girls day for the both of us. Time to get away from the stinky boys." Molly scrunched up her face causing Danae to laugh and stick out her tongue. Aunt Molly laughed and pulled Danae into a tight hug, holding onto her for what seemed like forever. Danae squirmed and Aunt Molly let go, wiping her eyes before sending Danae a bright grin.
"Let's be off then!" The two Flooed to Diagon Alley and Danae could never remember being filled with such wonder in her entire life! It was so busy and there was a lot of people so Aunt Molly kept a tight grip on Danae but the little girl paid that no mind. She was too busy looking at their surroundings.
There was so much color, brighter than she had ever seen. The clothes popped out and the signs were decorated with gold lettering. Excitement fill her to the brim as she saw all the different shops and she couldn't help but gasp with joy when they passed the ice cream parlor. Aunt Molly must have something amazing planned to take them to such a wonderful place!
They headed for a giant marble building with suits of armor at the bronze doors. There were words above the door but Danae couldn't read just yet, and when she really tried to read it all the letters moved around making it impossible. Danae decided to call it the White Castle, because only castles had guards at the doors. Aunt Molly opened the bronze doors to the White Castle and took them inside. They came into a small room where a second set of bronze doors stood. On the doors was some writing that, like the ones from outside, moved around in a way that Danae couldn't make heads or tails of it. Beside the doors were two more guards, these ones much shorter than the armored guards outside. They eyed her with little black eyes that made her uneasy. They kinda scared her but she knew that if she said it out loud Aunt Molly would smack her bottom for being rude. So instead she gave them a wobbly smile and nodded her head to them.
Aunt Molly ignored the guards and opened the doors without pausing to read the words. Behind the doors was a very large room with many desks that had strange creatures in the chairs. They looked similar to the guards from before. Danae kept close to Aunt Molly's skirts, not liking how they all looked at her as she passed.
Eventually Aunt Molly walked to a desk where two men were waiting. both were old, but one was really old. He had to have been a thousand years old with a beard as long and as white as that. The other one was sitting in a strange chair with big wheels on the side. He smiled at Danae as they got closer. Danae smiled back and gave a small wave.
Aunt Molly greeted the really old man warmly while coldly acknowledging the other. Behind the desk was another of the small creatures that looked at them all with a sneer. He pulled out some papers with a lot of words printed on them. Danae grimaced at the sight of them, her head hurting without even trying to read it.
"We are here concerning an issue with the will of one Cassandra Lee Prewett. What are your complaints?" The creature drolled in a nasal voice that sounded like it came straight from a villain in a story book. Molly straightened and looked the creature right in the eyes, something that Danae could never ever do. Instead she eyed the man in the strange chair, curious as to who he was. He noticed her gaze and after checking to make sure the others weren't watching he made a funny face that made Danae giggle.
"-He cannot just stroll up and take her from my house! It is outrageous! I am her Legal Magical Guardian am I not?" Molly demanded harshly to the creature. He didn't flinch at Aunt Molly's anger, which was noteworthy. Aunt Molly could get scary when she was angry. The man in the strange chair spoke up after Aunt Molly's tirade, his voice softer and more firm than Aunt Molly's. It was like Aunt Molly was a hot flame in the fireplace while he was the cool water of the pond in the forest.
"I am not taking her away in any fashion. I run a summer camp, one that the young girl's mother wished for her to attend when she reached the age of four. While I don't normally take in children this young I can and will make an exception on account of the mother's wishes." Aunt Molly gave the man a nasty glare that if Danae had ever used she'd get in trouble. Aunt Molly looked like she was going to start ranting again when the creature spoke.
"The Will states that the girl is to be taken to a camp in America run by one Chiron. Seeing as this is Chiron and that is the girl I see no issues." Aunt Molly's face grew red with anger and Danae just knew she was going to lose it. Before it could happen though the really old man stepped forward to speak.
"And what of validity of the will? Are there any witnesses who signed?" He asked with a wispy tone of voice. The creature gave the old man a mean look as he turned the paper around and pointed towards the bottom.
"Witnessed and signed by none other than one Lily Potter as you can clearly see. As I said before, I see no issues that qualify for a proper complaint." Aunt Molly stared at the paper as the creature sat it back into a folder. He then picked up all the folders on his desk and left without so much as a goodbye. Aunt Molly sighed before turning to the man in the chair.
"If you must take her, then take my children as well. It's too dangerous for them here." She begged. The man sadly shook his head in the negative, looking truly regretful.
"I'm sorry, but I am only allowed to accept certain types of children and yours would not qualify." He explained. Aunt Molly growled in frustration and looked like she was near to strangling the man with her bare hands. The old man put a hand on Aunt Molly's shoulder and she seemed to calm down slightly.
"And what, if I may humbly ask, kind of children do you take in?" He asked. The other man looked uncomfortable for a moment, as if he wasn't sure if he would answer. After a moment's pause though, he replied in a hushed whisper that had Danae straining to hear.
"We provide a safe haven for Half-Bloods." Aunt Molly let out a breath, all her previous anger seeming to leave her. She clutched at Danae and brought her even closer than she was before. Danae wondered what all the fuss about. What was a Half-Blood?
"We never found out who the father was. We wondered, but she really is a half-blood?" Aunt Molly asked lowly, her gaze swerving around the room. The man nodded his head solemnly, making Danae really want to know just what that was. The three adults then began to speak in hushed whispers once more and Danae grew bored, her gaze moving away.
Across the room was man who was staring at their group. He wore a suit with an over the shoulder bag at his hip. Curly brown hair fell into hypnotic blue eyes that captured Danae's gaze. Her heart panged and for some strange reason she really wanted to go over there. The man waved at Danae, a smile on his face. Danae waved back with her free hand, unnoticed by the adults. The man brought his finger to his lips, and Danae copied with a giggle. She knew what that meant, Charlie taught it to her some time ago. It meant she had to keep it a secret. The man waved goodbye before walking away. Danae waved at his back until he was no longer in sight.
Danae would never tell anyone about the man she saw.
Camp Half-Blood was different than life at the Burrow. The man who had the strange chair from the White Castle was actually a centaur. When they arrived at the camp he just walked out of his chair and it disappeared and he was a horse from the waist down! He introduced himself as Chiron, the activities director of the camp. This confused Danae as that Aunt Molly had told her that he was in charge. Chiron said that her Aunt was mistaken and that the real person in charge was Mr. D. Mr. D was an older man with wispy grey hair and bloodshot eyes. He was sitting on the porch of a large cabin with a purple metal can in his hand.
"Huh? Another new brat Chiron?" He grumbled when they showed up. And this is how Danae was introduced to world of being a demigod. Her father wasn't human or a wizard, but a Greek God, and as his daughter she was a demigod. Chiron then went on to say that she couldn't tell any of the other campers about her magical heritage. Danae didn't really understand because if they weren't Muggles then surely it would be okay. He would not be swayed though and made her pinky swear to not say a word about the magical world. Danae agreed, amazed by the Muggle custom of the binding promise of the pinky. Uncle Arthur was right, Muggles are amazing!
Danae was put in the most crowded cabin in the whole camp. It was the Hermes cabin, where all unclaimed newcomers go and stay because Hermes was the God of travelers. Danae ended up getting a small cot in one of the corners. Above and around were makeshift hammocks that the older kids slept in. They told her that the camp was a place to train, because monsters hunted demigods. Danae didn't completely understand, but she did understand one thing in particular. She had to train and get stronger, or she would put her family in even more danger than they already were in.
So filled with determination Danae did all that she could at the camp. Admittedly that wasn't much. She was too young to join any of the main activities and more often than not she ended up either being babysat one of the older kids or was forced to sit on the sidelines and watch the others train. Danae quickly got bored of this and asked Chiron to give her something that she could do. She had to get stronger so that she won't make things worse back home! She eventually got him to give her a real job to do while at camp.
This was how Danae's Messaging Service had began. Chiron would give Danae a message or summons for one of the campers and she would then go off to deliver it. It wasn't long before other campers started to request her service as well. Soon the sight of a small red haired child zooming around the grounds became a regular feature of the camp.
Danae's summer passed quickly and before she knew it her time at the camp was coming to a close. She was sad to leave all her new friends behind but Chiron said that she would see them again next summer. He also told her to not tell her family about the Greek Gods or that she was a demigod. Danae promised, though she didn't really want to. She wanted to tell her Aunt and Uncle all about her time at the camp. Chiron said it was for the best though and he wouldn't lie about something like that.
Danae spent the rest of her childhood going back and forth between being homeschooled at the Burrow and spending her summers at the camp. As she grew older she began to understand the world more and face some of the complications of being a demigod. One such problem was her dyslexia that made it nearly impossible to do any of her homework that her Aunt Molly gave her. She had to copy off of Fred and George in exchange for playing with them anytime they asked. Although more often than not 'playing' turned into pranking the older kids. Percy was the victim most of the time making him not really like the little trio.
During the summer of when she was six years old she was finally able to join in the Capture the Flag game. She was serving mainly as a messenger for her team and avoided most of the conflict. That didn't matter to Danae though, she was too excited that she got to participate at all. It was also during that summer that three demigods had found the camp in the middle of the night. A hoard of monsters were following them though and one of them sacrificed herself to let the other two get away. The girl was a daughter of Zeus, one of the Big Three. She died fighting off the hoard, and Zeus felt pity for her so he turned her into a tree that would protect the camp's boarders. It became known as Thalia's Tree. Not a very creative name in Danae's opinion.
Years passed and soon Danae graduated from being a simple messenger to actually fighting and training like the others. She kept her messaging service running, though it was harder to keep going in between her training. She had been fiddling with the idea of charging for delivering her messages. Conner and Travis planted the idea in her head a year back when they found out how busy she could get. Now that she was going to start her first year at Hogwarts after the summer made it seem to be a good idea. This way she could buy some of her own supplies instead of relying on her Aunt and Uncle's meager finances.
It was going to be odd in her time at Hogwarts. This was something that Danae was absolutely sure of. For one, she was going to be a year older than all the other students come October. She would have been in the same year as Percy but her birthday was after the start of term. Secondly, it would be completely different from her time at camp. Unlike any of the others in her family she never did exhibit a lot of accidental magic. That, and she never felt the urge to try and use her Aunt and Uncle's wands to do spells at the random like say, the twins.
She wasn't sure what to expect from Hogwarts. A singing hat was definitely not on the list. The Sorting Hat was a dusty old thing with a gravel voice that was singing proudly from his stool at the head of the Great Hall. Danae stood in a sea of first years who like her were all nervous for what would happen next. That dusty piece of apparel was going to place them in their House where you would stay for the rest of your time at Hogwarts. When Danae's name was called she made sure to stand tall and keep her head up and not to show her nervousness. She just needed to act like she was getting a quest, though thinking that only made her think of Luke and his failed quest. Instead of calming her it only made her more nervous as his quest was so dangerous that Chiron had said no more quests were to be given. At least, that's how she saw it.
"Hmmm, interesting indeed. You are different than the others." Danae squirmed in her seat, praying that Professor McGonagall couldn't hear the hat from where she was standing with her list of names. If he could read her mind it would become a problem seeing as that she wasn't allowed to let anyone know about the Camp.
"Quit your worrying child. I'm no gossip like you humans. Now where to put you? Ravenclaw is out of the question I can tell. You have a grand sense of loyalty bred from your time at that camp, yet I don't think Hufflepuff would suit you. You have the logic and reasoning of a Slytherin much like your mother before you. Hmmm, no, no that wouldn't work either. No, it better be GRYFFINDOR!" Danae jumped at the suddenness of the Hat's shouting and the eruption of applause from the table decked out in red and gold. Danae took the Hat off and scurried to the table feeling her heart race in her chest. For a moment she thought that he was going to sort her into Slytherin. She briefly wondered just why he didn't, but soon put it out of her mind. She was now in Gryffindor and that was that.
Her favorite class was simultaneously her least favorite. Potions. She loved the class by the fact that she was actually really good at brewing potions. The reason why she hated it was Professor Snape. The man hated Gryffindors with a passion it would seem and not even her high aptitude in his subject would change his views.
Her first flying lesson went off without a hitch, much to her surprise. She had never flown a broom before in her life. Charlie and Billy refused to let her or their younger siblings fly their brooms, too worried they would wreck them. When all of the students were lined up beside the brooms Madam Hooch told them to say "up" to call the broom to their hands. Danae barely had the word out of her mouth when the broom leapt from the ground. She was so startled by the sudden reaction that she almost wasn't able to grab it in time. The thing nearly hit her in the face!
They didn't do too much flying in the first lesson, staying in the quidditch field the entire time. Three kids almost fell from their brooms and Danae had to maneuver quickly when Faye Wells took a turn too sharply. After the lesson was over Madam Hooch pulled Danae to the side and said that she should think about joining her House's quidditch team the next year.
"You take to the sky naturally and have a good foundation. With a bit of practice I'm sure you'd be a good addition to the team." She encouraged. Danae nodded her head in agreement, but in truth she wasn't sure if it was a good idea. There's a reason why most Demigods don't ride planes after all. If Zeus didn't like your Godly parent he might zap you out of the sky with twitch of his finger. Considering she didn't even know who her father was, it was best to play it safe and stay out of the clouds for now. Though quidditch did look like a bloody good game.
It was getting harder to convince her Aunt and Uncle to let Danae leave for camp. Aunt Molly more so than Arthur. She was under the impression that the camp was a place to hide half-blood magical children while You Know Who was in power. It was the only reason she let Danae left in the first place. Only the Dark Lord has been dead for nearly a decade now. In Aunt Molly's opinion there was no point in the camp existing now. Danae told her that they decided to keep the program up as a way to help half-bloods connect with others like them. Which was sort of true, only Danae meant Half-Bloods with capital letters. No need to tell Aunt Molly that though. Aunt Molly lets Danae go in the end, voicing her opinion on the matter the entire time Danae packed. She didn't like how Danae would go from camp and then straight onto Hogwarts, it left no room for the family.
Secretly Danae felt that she would choose the camp over Hogwarts any day.
Over the course of the summer Danae trained and trained until she would drop. She wasn't nearly as good as most of the others at the camp, but that only made her strive to get better. She spent most of her time focusing her training on hand-to-hand and swords. The first was harder as that it was an uncommon way of fighting. After all no one would be stupid to fight a monster with nothing but their fists; and there was no way they would go anywhere without a weapon. The latter was her main focus as that she had some skill when fighting with a blade. She was terrible with all other weapons, she was even banned from the range because of how bad her archery was. Despite it being her best area, she was still having trouble when fighting because it always felt off to her.
It wouldn't be until a random sparring match in the middle of an afternoon that she found her own way of fighting. She was sparring against another camper from her cabin and she was losing badly. He had backed her into a corner and she was beginning to believe it was all over. It was obvious he and everyone else thought so as well, which just made her grit her teeth in anger. He raised his sword for the proverbial final blow and Danae twirled on the balls of her feet to dodge. As she spun around she slipped her sword into her left hand without even thinking. When the dust settled Danae stood at the other camper's side with her blade at his throat, making her the winner.
There was silence all around them. The only thing Danae could hear was the sound of her heavy breaths as her adrenaline began to deflate. Then everyone was shouting and she found herself at the center of attention as the campers asked how she did what she had. Danae didn't say anything, not sure on how she did it herself. Chiron had been watching the spar and he congratulated Danae on her victory, and he then gave her new training routine that would incorporate her skill. From then on Danae would become the sole dual sword wielder in the camp.
In her second year at Hogwarts she was happy to see the twins get sorted into her House. Most of the year was spent staying on their good side so that she would not be on the wrong side of one of their pranks. It was humorous to watch them make themselves known as the trickster kings of all pranks at Hogwarts. Sometimes she would help them their mischievous hobby; occasionally getting herself into detention because of it. One memorable time was when all three of them were in Filch's office for detention. She had seen a drawer labeled as confiscated items. She quickly pointed it out to the other two and made a distraction so they could nab what was inside.
She never ended up joining the Quidditch team, much to Madam Hooch's disappointment. She still tried to convince Danae to do so, and the girl suspected that Hooch had got McGonagall in on it. It was subtle, but the head of the Gryffindor house would often drop hints on the benefits of being on the team when around Danae. The young Demigod refused to join however, no matter how much she wanted to. She was a real fan of the sport and would love to be a part of it. She just couldn't get over the thought of Zeus swatting her out of the sky.
The rest of the year passed in a haze of avoiding pranks and trying to not snap back at Professor Snape when he got on her nerves. She was more successful in the latter than in the former. When she arrived at Camp that year, she was surprised to find it in a somber mood. No one in her cabin would meet her eyes and she barely got a hello from the Stoll Brothers. Danae quickly threw her bags into one of the hammocks in the back corner and made way for the Hephaestus cabin. Her best friend Nessie would tell her what had happened. Before getting there though Danae was intercepted by Chiron. He asked her to follow him to the Big House.
"Danae, I have some bad news to tell you." Danae sat in one of the chairs in Chiron's office as he told her what had transpired while she was at England. Luke, the leader of her cabin and someone she looked up to, had betrayed the camp. Danae stared on in numb shock as Chiron regaled the story of Percy Jackson's quest and Luke's trickery.
Danae couldn't believe it. She knew that he wasn't the same after his failed quest, but she never thought that he would do something as horrible as this! It was no secret that Luke hated his father, Hermes. Danae herself didn't understand it, she thought that he was lucky to know who his Godly parent was in the first place. Sure, Danae knew that she wasn't special in her parent's eyes. He might even had forgotten of her existence. Despite this, she still loved him because if it wasn't for him she would never have made it to the Camp. She never would have made so many friends or memories if she just had some regular old Muggle as her father. And while it would be amazing to be recognized by her father, it wasn't the most important thing in the world.
"Danae I would like you to be the new leader of Cabin Eleven." Danae snapped back from her thoughts and gave Chiron an incredulous look.
"What? Why?" She asked with a squeak. Chiron raised his eyebrows in amusement at her reaction and Danae felt a blush make its way onto her cheeks. She cleared her throat before trying again in a less uncool way.
"I mean, why are you choosing me? I'm only thirteen, doesn't it normally go to whoever's the oldest in the cabin?" It was why Luke was the leader for so long. It was rare that a Demigod lived pass sixteen, let alone to his nineteen.
"Percy is only twelve and is the leader of his own cabin." Chiron pointed out, making her roll her eyes. Percy was the only kid in his cabin so that was moot. She told Chiron just that. Just why in the world would he think she would be a good choice as a leader? Chiron sighed before leaning back in his chair and crossed his arms with a pensive face.
"You have been coming to this Camp since you were four years old Danae. You've been here longer than most of the others and know the Camp grounds like the back of your hand." He said while looking off to the side. He turned back to her with a slight smile and added, "And wouldn't it make sense that the person who runs the camp's mail service was the counselor of the Hermes cabin?" Danae couldn't help but laugh at the logic because, yeah it would make sense. However, Chiron was forgetting one important detail.
"Chiron, while I am honored to be offered this, I can't do it. For one, I don't think I'd be a good leader for the others. And besides, in order for me to be the counselor of Cabin Eleven I'd have to be a child of Hermes. I'm unclaimed." She explained slowly, eyeing Chiron oddly as his face looked surprised. Newcomers often though that Hermes was her father because of DMS (Danae's Messaging Service, patent pending) but surely Chiron hadn't forgotten. Right?
Chiron coughed sheepishly and repositioned himself in his wheelchair. "Yes well, you are correct. It must have slipped my mind." Danae's brows furrowed at this. One of the most well known rules of the Camp had just slipped his mind? Chiron cleared his throat and moved on from the subject.
"So why don't you tell me who you think should be the new counselor?" His odd behavior was momentarily forgotten as Danae stared blankly at his earnest face. What in the world has possessed him to want her opinion of who becomes the counselor of Cabin Eleven? She was unclaimed! Her opinion should be irrelevant. A few moments passed in silence as Danae waited for him to tell her the punchline of the joke that this must have been. When nothing was said she sighed and just decided to roll with it.
"If you must ask, I would think either one of the Stoll brothers would work. They are the eldest of the Hermes children and are good leaders in Capture the Flag. No one would argue one of them becoming the new counselor. Well, except the other brother of course." Chiron looked dubious to her choice, as that she knew he would. Those two were notorious pranksters and often found themselves having to clean the stables for a prank gone wrong.
Chiron thanked her for her time and let Danae leave after that. As she walked away from the Big House she thought over Chiron's odd behavior and the pure weirdness of the entire interaction. What was going through Chiron's head, asking her to be the cabin's leader?
Conner and Travis Stoll became co-counselors of Cabin Eleven a day later.
