AU – Set before Last Olympian.

Corruption –

Chapter One

"-The war is almost upon us. We have mere days before the biggest war in the history of mortal time is about to erupt. Be brave, young demigods. It will take all of you to defeat and conquer our world back." Chiron paused for a moment. "Because this is a God's world – this is a demigod's world! And no Titans will take that away from us!" The end of the speech was applauded with claps and cheers from the surrounding demigods, though they were sparse. Even though he had just given an optimistic speech, Chiron looked anything but positive about the subject. He trotted away from the banquet area to scrape some food into the offering bowl. He looked up for a slight second, just as if he was gazing to the sky to offer more thanks, when he suddenly glanced to the opening 'door' of the camp.

At the door of the camp, stood a very beautiful, elegant girl. She had cascading dark hair; flowing past her should blades and hanging low against her back. It had slight curves to it, wisps and waves and curls which fluttered as the wind pushed through them, disturbing their appearance. She had a simple face, although Chiron could not tell what shape it was. Her eyes were striking – deep green, large in her face. She had black eyelashes; so long they brushed against her cheek as she blinked. She looked around fourteen or fifteen, and at a push, sixteen. Chiron smiled: a new demigod?

He trotted over to her, beaming. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. Do come in and be seated!" He beckoned her forward with his hand, turning away slightly and beginning to trot back to his place at the table. But the girl was not following him, he sensed, so he turned back to find her.

She was collapsed on the ground, curled up into a ball, as if she was sleeping and had deliberately placed herself there. Her hair was circled around her, almost creating a blanket and pillow in one.

"Travis! Connor! Help me here!" The two brothers raced over, and Chiron directed them on what to do. Fortunately, none of the tables had realised what was going on, and were happily munching away at their dinners and possibly desserts. This would be easier without a lot of commotion. "Please take this girl to the infirmary. And be quiet!" Chiron shooed them away with a wave of his hand. He himself galloped back to his meal, pretending nothing had happened.

The Stoll brothers hoisted the girl between them, one brother grabbing her shoulders and the other grabbing her legs. Taking her straight to the infirmary, they placed her on a bed and informed the nurse about the issue. The girl had not awoken since being at the doors.

When the brothers had gone, and the infirmary was silent, the girl opened her eyes. Her eyes glowed for a moment, and she gasped into the stiff air, releasing a mist of condensation. Again her eyes glowed, only less brightly, and flickered until she was once again asleep.

"Why, it's a miracle!" Chiron was standing in the doorway of the infirmary, talking to the nurse on duty. "To have all injuries and illnesses healed overnight? That surely is the work of strong magic." Chiron and the nurse were smiling happy smiles and the beds alongside and opposite the girl were empty. She was the only one left.

"My dear, are you awake?" The nurse had made her way over to the girl's bed, feeling her temperature and pushing her down as she tried to sit up. The girl nodded her head, although she did think it was obvious she was awake, and not sleeping. She blinked her eyes and her eyebrows knitted together. She opened her mouth once more, but this time nothing came out. She choked and spluttered, her eyes growing bigger and bigger in her head. She coughed, her lips forming words that her tongue could not comply.

The nurse calmly handed her a glass of water sitting on the side. "Just a bit throaty, dear, you slept a long time." Chiron's head did not move from the girl's face.

Eventually, after gulping down the water in three sharp swallows, the teen coughed again, but this time, more forcefully. "Where am i?" she asked. Her voice was sweet and simple, with a sort of musical note behind the way she said it. But it was more than that – it was pure.

A person less-voice answered her, before Chiron could have the chance. "Camp Half-Blood." The person entered, and stood, leaning against the cabin door. It was Connor Stoll: the boy who had helped carry the girl into the infirmary in the first place. Connor waded his way over to her bed, to the stunned looks of the nurse and Chiron. Connor took the girl's hand and kissed it lightly on the back of the palm, bending like knights do to maidens. "I'm Connor," he said, releasing her hand and bowing his head to her. "May I ask what your name is, or shall I just call you Beautiful?"

Chiron and the nurse bit back laughter as 'Beautiful' sat startled. Moments trickled on, and Connor started to shift slightly from his kneeling position. "You know, this kind of hurts." He shrugged.

The startled girl looked from Chiron to the nurse and back to Connor wildly, her eyes growing more and more distraught with every ticking second that passed. With a whimper, she opened her mouth and squeaked out, "I don't know." The silence that followed was none-to-good.

"Right then, I best be off…" The nurse quickly scuttled away from the bed, hurtling herself behind a curtain and collapsing on the small bed. A few minutes later, snoring was to be heard around the cabin.

There was an awkward silence between the two males and female. Finally, Chiron coughed when he could not bear to see the look of discomfort across the two teen's faces. "Connor, perhaps you should leave, you'll miss dinner." With a look that could simply not be denied, Connor leaped up and scampered out of the bunkhouse, although not before turning back and winking at Beautiful once more.

Chiron looked from the door to the girl quite expectantly. He chuckled before saying, "now that's not something I've seen before." He turned to face the girl and clumped his feet expectantly, wanting her to say something. She just stared up at him with her big eyes, curious and full of nervous anxiety. "If you don't mind me saying, I'd rather not let Connor keep on spreading that your name is Beautiful, so, do you have any idea what your name is, at all?" Chiron prompted her.

The girl sat in hard thought for a few moments more. The look was spread all across her face; her confusion was nothing short of worrying. Still, Chiron waited patiently, not wanting to push her beyond her own knowledge.

The girl struggled against her own mind, pushing barriers and overthinking terms. Shaking out her hair, she answered in a smooth voice, that didn't even sound like her own: "Nadia." She faltered for a second and then nodded her head happily. "Yes, Nadia." She smiled and her face lit up. You could see why she was called beautiful.

Chiron smiled back at her. "Wonderful. Now if you're feeling better, I can take you to have some dinner. You slept almost a full twenty-four hours without food." He inclined with his head and Nadia peeled back the bedcovers and trembled to her feet, unsure of anything. When she had found her bearings, she followed Chiron's hooves and went out into the courtyard and next to the large twelve tables.

Chiron was talking to a tall boy with an upturned nose, and a mischievous smile. He looked somewhat familiar, but still Nadia hung behind, embarrassed about meeting somebody new. Chiron eventually turned around and trotted toward her, and for once he noticed how at ease she was for being a new half-blood. She hadn't asked any questions about the camp so far – which was odd. Usually when a new camp member is added, all they ever do is ask questions. Except Nadia was different.

"Well, without further adue, I would like to introduce you to your new councillor. You'll be staying in the Hermes Cabin until you get claimed by your Godly Parent. This is Travis Stoll, and don't worry, he won't bite." Travis and Chiron shared laughed and Nadia giggled by herself. With a nod, Chiron pounded off, over to the buffet table laden with food.

Travis looked Nadia up and down, scrutinising her. After giving her a long look, he smiled and gestured for her to join him at the Hermes table. "Come on, you look hungry. Just come and sit with the family, I'll show you around after." Nadia smiled her thanks and together they made their way to an empty spot on the long bench.

The Hermes Cabin's table was definitely the longest, and fullest. It was swarming with children, ranging from all about eleven going up to sixteen. There were the odd ones who were older or younger than the usual campers, but this seemed normal here. Nadia nodded to each of them who made eye contact with her, because many of the boys did. Travis motioned for her to sit next to him and she did, tucking into the food that was placed in front of her happily.

"So, tell me." Travis mumbled to her with a mouth full of what looked like mince and dumplings. "What do you think of Connor?" he winked and stuffed another forkful of food into his mouth.

Nadia looked confused for a second, tilted her head to the side. "Connor?" she questioned, raising a delicate eyebrow at him. Travis gulped his food down quickly to answer her.

"My brother. You know the one who visited you like twenty minutes ago?" Travis pointed down the table to a tall boy with the same dark hair as him. Ahh, that's probably why I Travis looked familiar, Nadia mused, placing a tiny amount of food in her own mouth.

"He seems nice." Was all she answered, and Travis was too busy shoving all his food into his mouth at once to say anything more.

"That meal was deeeeeee-licious!" Travis laughed as he skipped away from the table. His roommates around his agreed, all heading toward a sort of arena area. Travis nudged Nadia to keep her up with him, pulling her over to a brown haired girl with pretty green eyes. "S'up Katie, kill any monsters with your flowers today?" Travis joked, pushing her with his shoulder.

"Shut up, Travis! Do anything productive today, or did you just make crappy jokes like that?" the girl Nadia assumed was Katie, snapped back. Katie swung her fist back to pelt it onto Travis' arm, but Travis was too quick and jumped out the way.

"Damn, didn't know you flower girls got so feisty!" he yelled as she stormed away, and his face melted from a grin to a look of bliss. He watched her leave, unconsciously slowing down to stare at her longer. It was only when Nadia coughed did he continue walking, putting his head down to hid his blushing face. "I don't know what's going on, Percy just got back a few days ago." He mumbled to himself, rushing toward an empty seat around the arena stage.

A fire was crackling in the middle, and all campers were whispering together, nervous about what news was about to befall them. Nadia wasn't speaking to anyone; her eyes had fallen on the open fire, watching the flames dance and shake. It was a colour Nadia had never seen on a fire before, a sort of green tinge echoed around the edge of the flames, and got more yellow into the middle. It was staying low against the ground, but whenever someone spoke too loud, the flames would rise a little higher, and Nadia wondered why this was.

"It's enchanted." A girl to Nadia's left told her. "It reflects the mood of the campers at night. I'm guessing it's green because we're all a little nervous." The girl smiled at Nadia although she could not see what she looked like in the shadows around them.

"Interesting." Nadia responded, smiling graciously at the girl.

"I'm Taylor." The girl said, and Nadia heard a tinge in her voice, almost like a smile itself. Taylor reached out her hand to find Nadia's in the dark and shook it.

"Nadia." Nadia said back, squeezing Taylor's fingers with her own.

"Campers!" Chiron's voice sounded all around the arena, shocking everyone into slow silence. Chiron laughed as the flames behind him grew taller and yet more green. "Do not be alarmed, this is not a business sort of meeting." Immediately after saying this, the flames dulled to a darker green, flickering blue in places.

There were hushed talks around the whole arena, and Chiron silenced them with a cough. "I just happened to see that since tensions are running so high within the camp, it would be a good idea to do this." He sought Nadia out in the crowd and smiled at her. "Also, it would be a nice welcome back for our campers away on quests." A small round of applause rose and somebody shouted out: "PERCY AND ANNABETH!" while the rest of them giggled. Chiron waited until all was quiet before finishing his final sentence:

"We're going to have a final game of capture the flag before we go to war."

This was answered with cheers all around the arena, clapping and various amounts of happy chorusing from every single camper.

"Now everybody gathers your brothers and sisters, we're going to play a little differently this time."

Please review!

Which godly parent do you think Nadia has?

And thanks to Lexi who put forward this awesome name (:

LittleMissInvisible.