Of Friends and Newcomers

Amaranth opened the door of the infirmary and let the smell of herbs wash over her. Immediately a feeling of peace came over her. She loved this place - the relative calmness, the soft sunshine flooding in through the windows and the aforementioned smell of herbs… "What took you so long?" - and of course Will. Can't forget Will.

"I'm early and you know it" she replied and smiled up at her friend. "Well, I was here two hours ago -" "Your father is Apollo. You rise with the sun. You try doing that in the Hermes Cabin. Everyone there likes to sleep in, and those who don't…well, tough luck, it's impossible to climb over all the bodies lying on the ground" she admonished him playfully.

Will sighed and winced internally. His teasing comment had come out of his mouth without thought and while he knew that she knew how it was meant, it brought his best friend's situation to mind. A situation that she may have been ok with (and he still wasn't sure she entirely was) but he definitely wasn't. Sometimes he forgot how good he had it. While the Apollo Cabin was quite full, everyone had their own bed and enough space. The cabins were supposed to be the one place they could just relax and not worry, in the midst of their siblings they should feel understood and at home. His friend on the other hand was forced to sleep on the ground, always having to look after her few belongings and not really fitting in. She wasn't a child of Hermes and she wasn't unclaimed. She didn't even have one sibling in camp. The children of Hermes merely tolerated her because they were forced to and the unclaimed children were jealous - especially as she had been officially claimed the moment she walked into camp, no amazing fight, no special show of skill and no quest.

And still… he could always see the relief upon her face when she came to camp. Every time a conversation turned to the topic of her home life or even life outside of the camp her posture would stiffen up a bit and she would change the topic. So he had given up on that front for the moment - if she ever even showed the smallest sign of wanting to talk about it, he would be there for her, otherwise he thought it best not to push her.

A hand was waving in front of his face, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Don't go all pensive on me, it's creepy. You are supposed to be smiling cheerfully and sing happy silly songs."

He snorted and turned his nose up a bit "I will have you know that any songs I sing are certainly not silly. They are all well composed with deep meaning, only getting more beautiful if sung with my stunning voice"

"Yes, you are a beautiful Disney princess, I'm sure your knight in shining armor will one day hear you sing and stop at nothing to win your heart"

"Why you!" he screamed with a mock battle cry and started to tickle her mercilessly. Before they knew it they were rolling on the ground, each trying to get the upper hand. He didn't expect her to suddenly grab a piece of his t-shirt on his back - he also didn't expect her mighty pull, forcing him to roll on side. In a blink of an eye she was sitting on his stomach, her knees pinning down his arms. She grinned slyly and-

"Am I interrupting anything?" The two of them froze at Chiron's unexpected interruption. They hastily got up and straightened their clothing, sheepishly smiling at the camp director. "No, sir" Chiron just hmmed. Internally he was pleased. Young Amaranth rarely showed her playful side, it was nice to see her interacting so freely with the son of Apollo. Actually he couldn't even remember any other time she had acted thus. Not that he had many memories to refer to, to his slight shame he had barely paid attention to her. With everything going on in the last few years and her 'just' being the daughter of a minor goddess… Truly thinking about it, he knew nearly nothing about her. That would need to change. Luke's betrayal had made it clear that they needed to pay more attention to their demigods, the titans certainly did. It was also good to see Will laughing. Lee's death had been hard on him. His and Castor's death had been hard on all of them. The camp was still recovering and this was just the calm before the storm. War was upon them and they knew it.

"Will, a word if you please" With that Chiron turned around and made his way to the Big House.

The two demigods exchanged a look. "Be back soon" with that Will hastened after the camp director, his good mood gone and a feeling of apprehension settling in his stomach.

Amaranth sighed and decided to check which herbs would need to be replenished.

It turned out to be nearly all of them. With the battle of the Labyrinth their stock was at an all time low. She would need to speak with the Demeter Cabin on which herbs took precedence. Unfortunately there were very few left - in the midst of the battle no one really cared about the plants they stepped on. Not that she could blame them. She decided to tidy up. Yesterday the last injured camper left the confines of the infirmary. After all her stays with Madame Pomfrey she could understand his relieved expression and mad dash to the door. Will had thankfully already started without her and left her with only a bit of work to do. Just as she changed the last bed sheet her friend returned with a serious expression on his face.

He sat down on the freshly made bed. She sat down beside him.

"I am going on a quest with some others. I don't know how long I will be away" Will said.

"I see" was the only reply he got. They stayed silent for a while. What was there to say? With the coming war everyone was cautious and preparing themselves. The monsters and monster attacks increased dramatically. It was no wonder demigods were sent out to deal with them. Better do it now on their terms than wait for them to attack. Artemis and the hunt did what they could, but there were just too many spawning all other the place. So it really came to no surprise… Amaranth still would have preferred it to be anyone but Will. She knew he was a good choice for a quest - he was a talented fighter, could support others with long ranged attacks courtesy of his skill with the bow and he was one of - if not the- best healer they had. If something happened he could patch the others up. Still, he was her friend. She didn't want him anywhere near the monsters. Not knowing how he was doing, whether he was still alive… she didn't like it. Not that she could do anything about it. Which sucked. Big time.

She hesitated only briefly before reaching to her side and opening her moleskin pouch, shoving her hand inside and silently requesting the item she wanted - thank Hecate for magic and extension charms. Will watched her in interest, his eyes widening slightly as he saw her hand disappear inside the supposedly tiny pouch without problems and taking out an object that should not fit in there. "What the-" "Magic" came the simple answer before he could even finish his question. Well, she was the daughter of goddess of witchcraft, what did he expect? Just because she rarely showed her powers, didn't mean they weren't there. Secretly he wondered just what she was actually capable of.

She handed him the oval object, which turned out to be a mirror.

"Ahh, Ams, thank you…" his bewilderment showed. While he had no idea why she would give him a mirror, who was he to question a gift, even if he didn't quite understand the idea behind it? And it was a very nice mirror…

She rolled her eyes. "It's not just a mirror, it's a communication mirror. I have its counterpart. Like this you don't have to bother Lady Iris to contact me, not to mentioned that you don't need a rainbow and it doesn't require payment. It also can't be intercepted. You simply have to hold it, think about talking to me and say my name. If I have it with me and have the time I will answer the call. Should you or I not be able to answer it for whatever reason, the mirror will glow softly, to let us know we missed a call." He blinked at her explanation and looked down at mirror in his hands with newfound appreciation. This was damn practical. It also meant he could always check on his friend and in emergency cases contact her for help or just to get information across. "Let me have it for a moment" handing it back to her he watched as she mumbled a few words and the mirror started to glow and shrink. She ripped a tiny piece of her camp t-shirt off and transfigured it into a leather cord. The shrunken mirror was then clipped on the cord. Without further ado his new necklace was pulled over his head and automatically the cord shrunk to a comfortable length so it would not get in the way or be in danger of accidently getting lost. "It's more practical like this. There are anti-theft charms on it so it can't be stolen, the mirror will resize when you take it of the cord and shrink again when you clip it on again"

"Thank you" Will said sincerely and hugged her. She stiffened a bit but hugged him back. She wasn't used body contact. Especially not positive one. Only Sirius and Mrs. Weasley hugged her and it was not like she saw them all that often. "You're welcome" came her slightly awkward reply.

"Are you blushing?" he teased, trying to bring back to good mood.

She just shoved him. "Let's talk to the Demeter Cabin about the needed herbs. After that you need to get ready for that quest of yours"


Apollo fell on his knees, tremors wrecked his body. Before him lay the fallen body of his foe, a giant. He had come out of nowhere and caught Apollo unaware as he drove his chariot through the sky. He had barely been fast enough in calling for a wind spirit to drive the chariot away. He didn't want to image what would have happened should the sun chariot crash into the earth. But that action cost him. The giant hadn't wasted any time in coming after him. The battle thankfully hadn't lasted too long, not that it hadn't been vicious. Just before he died the giant had been able to pour a potion over him. Apollo had no idea what that foul smelling concoction was, but his injuries were not healing at all and his muscles started to cramp.

It took too much effort to concentrate and transport himself to Olympus.

When he arrived in the throne room only his father was present.

"What happened?!" Zeus demanded, shocked at the sun god's state. With a few big steps he reached his son and knelt beside him. Seldom seen concern flashing over his face.

"I was… attacked… by a giant" his voice was shaky, it was hard to breath and the tremors got worse. Zeus quickly gave him Ambrosia, his face hard. The war was closer than expected if their foes were already willing to directly attack an Olympian, Apollo was no push over.

The sun god gritted his teeth in pain. It was not getting better. Why was it not getting better?! "Father…" Zeus gave him more Ambrosia. Nothing happened. "This is not good" Zeus began to worry "Not good at all"

"That stupid giant… poured a potion… over me…" coughed Apollo. What was happening?

Zeus held his son up with one hand while he carefully examined the liquid on Apollo's clothing. With a growing sense of dread he watched as the wounds stopped bleeding incor… and started actually bleeding blood. The red fluid slowly but noticeably seeping through the clothes.

"Whatever it is, it turns you mortal" the shock in Zeus voice was clear. Concentrating on his son he let his awareness flood through the body. "Not completely mortal… you are closer to a demigod… I have never seen this before…" Zeus now truly started to panic. What was this sorcery? There was no time… and they couldn't help, their medicine here on Olympus was meant for gods... and as of this moment Apollo was no longer immortal.

"Listen son, I will send you to camp. We cannot help you here, but they will be able to look after you. Tell no one who you are, what happened cannot get out, it would start a mass panic." And it would make him a prime target, but he didn't want to voice that out loud in front of his son. Zeus was not good at showing his concern for his children. Never had been. He hated to sent his son away, but Olympus was no longer safe for his child. Not only was the chance of someone else finding out higher, which would shaken up Olympus and put his son in more danger, it only took a god taking their true form… No, he would be safe at camp.

Apollo nodded weakly, keenly feeling his loss of blood. He understood. "I will… go as Fred Soleil, son… of Apollo"

"I will take care of everything else, do not worry. I will be in contact" with that he stopped wasting time and send his son to camp, quickly alerting Chiron.


It was a few days after Will left on his quest. It was raining and thunder could be heard in the distance. Amaranth looked morosely out of the window. She missed her friend, without him everything seemed less cheerful. Stupid sun children. He hadn't even mirror-called yet. Probably because he knew he would get an earful. Just after he left Chiron had called for her and told her that she was now officially in charge of the infirmary until Will returned. He had apparently told him she would make a wonderful replacement - and to please only tell her after he was already gone. She liked the position in itself, she liked being good at helping and healing others. What she didn't like was the spark of interest in Chiron's eyes as he told her. It never ended well for her when someone showed interest in her, somehow it always blew up in her face. Attention was not something she liked - and Will knew that. The feeling of unrest and foreboding that she had felt for the last few days increased. She had always been sensitive to these things… something was coming.

Restlessly she started sorting supplies… again.

Suddenly the door was thrown open and Chiron entered hurriedly with a banged up body in his arms. "Amaranth!"

"On it!"