Disclaimer: I do not own Hero: 108 or Percy Jackson.
Chapter 1:
Artemis watched this boy, noting that his words were low and sincere. The demigods recovered from their temporary shock to approach the hunters and the boy. "Where did you come from?"
The boy shook his head again, eyes still closed. Artemis frowned, feeling even more impatient.
"Are you going to open your eyes, boy?" Phoebe, one of her favourite daughters of Ares, demanded. With a heavy exhale, he opened his eyes. Artemis' eyes widened, as did all of the others.
His cloudy eyes had no focus in them. The colour of his eyes was unknown, since it had long ago faded to the point that it was now white. He was blind.
She frowned again as Zoë stepped forward, waving her hand in the man's face face. He didn't move for a moment, and when Zoë didn't stop, he surprised them by kicking Zoë in the shin. He judo flipped her to the ground, the huntress' bow dropping in the other direction as he placed a foot on her stomach.
"Just because I am blind does not mean that I like people waving their hands in front of my face." Zoë scowled as the hunters raised their bows. He didn't flinch as one arrow whizzed past his ear. Zoë gruffly nodded at Artemis' firm look, before Lin Chung raised his foot, silent as his eyes stayed open.
Artemis didn't react for a second or two, before she turned to her hunters. "Hunters! Set up camp and retrieve the demigods' things from the school!" The hunters rushed to do as she commanded; the two children of Hades continued to wait anxiously. Artemis turned to the two demigods, who were also being approached by Thalia, Percy and Grover.
"Wha-What is going on here?" The older one, the girl Bianca, asked shakily. "What happened to the girl that fell from the cliff?"
"Bianca, there is no way to put this lightly, but," Thalia knelt down to the demigod's height with a regretful look, "your father is an Olympian."
"Like an Olympian…athlete?" She asked timidly. Thalia shook her head sympathetically.
"An Olympian god, Bianca. They're real."
Nico began dancing around in excitement. "That's so cool! Does Zeus actually have plus 8 lightning? Does Poseidon have-"
"Nico!" Bianca snapped at him, clearly in distress. "This is not possible. This is not possible."
"It is, Bianca." Artemis tried to console the young demigoddess, placing a hand on her shoulder, but the demigoddess shrugged herself away.
"No. This is some sort of joke." It was then that Lin Chung decided to approach. His quiet presence startled them slightly, his open eyes scaring them as he somehow focused on a point between the two siblings, although they knew that he was talking to one of them.
"Bianca, this is not a joke. The Olympians are real, whether you like it or not."
"B-But-but it's not-it isn't-" Bianca stuttered, still nervous of the blind boy. Lin Chung knelt down to her height, looking at her.
"I know this is hard to accept, but it is real, Bianca. The gods are real." Bianca looked down, and Artemis turned to the teenager. He seemed to sense Bianca's uncomfortable presence, and continued. "Bianca, there was a time that I didn't want to accept something that I once thought was only impossible, a myth that my parents told me when I was young. A story. But I had to accept it."
"I don't…do I?"
Lin Chung sighed. "You have to. If you don't, you will only be hunted down. Your father's protection can only give you so much help." Bianca nodded numbly, looking at her younger brother, who was now showering Percy with questions. She then wandered away, a blank expression still on her face.
Artemis watched the blind teenager with grudging respect. He had done what they didn't manage to do.
She sighed again before turning to Thalia. Her half-sister was currently standing alone in the snow, looking down with her arms crossed. She turned to Grover, who was currently sitting by the fire, warming his hands. Artemis tilted her head at him before smiling faintly as she saw Percy send a pleading expression to Lin Chung, who approached them. Nico seemed slightly intimidated, but turned anyway and fired questions to him at rapid speed.
Lin Chung didn't seem as annoyed as she thought people would usually be with an annoying young 10-year-old asking them rapid-fire questions. Lin Chung answered them with unnatural ease, occasionally looking up despite the fact that he couldn't see anything.
Artemis turned around and headed to her tent. She would decide what to do the next day.
Lin Chung could sense Artemis going back to her tent, but turned his attention back to Nico.
"So, how did you get blind?"
"I prefer not to go into detail."
"But how can you know what is going on?!"
"Senses. When my eyesight was lost, my other senses increased. It means I can move around as if I can see, maybe even better than you can."
"Cool! Really? Where did you come from? Do you have family there? Will they be worried for you?!" Nico fired question after question. Lin Chung looked blankly at him, still recalling the Second War with Twin Masters.
"Mano is gone…dead."
"We suffered heavy casualties…He is dead."
"As long as my brothers stay safe, I do not mind dying."
"My time has come. I have to fade."
"She is dead."
"You've changed, Lin Chung."
"He is going to take your spot. But you can still come with us sometimes, right?"
Lin Chung released a shuddering breath, his white eyes still seeing nothing. He turned to where he thought the boy is. "I came from a place where both animals and humans worked together. And yes, I used to have family. I don't think they will be worried about my disappearance. I used to disappear for a few weeks, maybe a few months back home."
Nico nodded, about to ask more questions, when Bianca walked up to them.
She looked more confident now that she had finally accepted the truth. She was still slightly anxious around the other demigods and hunters, but Lin Chung had this sort of quiet understanding aura around him that made her comfortable.
"Nico. It's time for bed." Nico pouted, but obediently went into the tent that had been set for the demigods. Bianca sat down beside Lin Chung. "Sorry about Nico. He's always like this."
"It's fine." Lin Chung answered. "I used to know someone who was like this."
"Explains why you aren't planning to throw him in a meat sack and feed him to the wolves, which I think Percy was severely tempted to do."
Lin Chung turned to the girl, nodding. "You joined the hunters, didn't you?" He asked, sensing the stronger aura from around her. The demigoddess ducked her head.
"Yes." Her expression turned worried. "Artemis said something about something about the 'Great Stirring'. You don't think it's anything serious, do you?" The blind man shrugged shrugged. "Lin Chung?" He turned to her, though it made no difference. Everything around him was still black. "You will take care of Nico in camp, right?"
"You haven't told him." She shook her head, downcast. "I don't know, Bianca. I can't remain here forever." He gestured to the night sky, changing the topic. "You have to sleep as well."
Bianca nodded, before standing up and taking her leave. Lin Chung sighed, looking at the night sky.
"About your family…they are dead."
AN: Second chapter up, thank you to Better left Annonymous for reviewing!