Lilith slowly looked around the room, taking it all in. "Do I get special treatment when I die?" Lilith asked, "You know, for being his daughter." Lucas shrugged. "That I don't know. I heard something about it before, only a rumor though, that you are more likely to be judged favorably, but I dunno. Needless to say, you'd be more of an expert on this subject than me."
Lilith frowned again, great, even more reason to be picked on for.
She walked forward into the Cabin, looking around still. "...As redundant as this is going to sound… I like it. I didn't what to expect when I imagined a Hades' Cabin, but… I'll take what I can get." Lucas nodded, "Yeah, a lot nicer and lively than I thought Nico would have made it."
Lilith rose an eyebrow, "Who is Nico?" She asked, "Nico di Angelo, your half-brother, son of Hades, he designed the cabin himself." Lilith froze, she hadn't even thought of the possibility of siblings on her father's side.
"Could there be more?" She asked, "More children of Hades?" And Lucas nodded. "From the ones we currently know about, there are two other children of Hades, aside from you and Nico. There is a total of four children of Pluto, his Roman aspect, in Camp Jupiter."
Lucas briefly explained to her Camp Jupiter.
Lilith's eyes widened, "Rome, huh?... I've always loved learning of Rome, but to know that it has survived… I'd give anything to visit." Lucas shrugged, "Believe it or not, visiting one another is pretty common."
Someone cleared their throat from the doorway. They turned to see a pale boy with black hair with sickly green and gray eyes.
"Oh… Hey there, Thomas." Lucas said. "You know the rules, Lucas." He said, quickly, as if he disliked talking. "I know, I know, but I was just showing your new sister her cabin." Thomas rose an eyebrow and looked over at Lilith. "I'm Thomas Edgar Williams." Lilith bowed slightly, "I am Lilith… Russ." She said, pausing, but still not sure about using her real name. "Nice to meet you."
Thomas looked towards Lucas, "She's pretty old for a new recruit." Lucas nodded. "She's 16, it's a miracle she lasted that long." Thomas studied Lilith, who wanted to run and hide from his overbearing insightful eyes.
"Well," He walked over to the coffin-bed directly right of the door. "This is my bed and desk," He pointed, "I'd appreciate it if you stayed away and didn't touch anything." He paused, looked around the room and pointed to one of the beds. "You can take that one." He paused again, then sighed. "I guess I have to say it. If you have any questions regarding your lineage or powers, come talk to me. I'm filling in for Nico while he's out." Lilith nodded. "Thank you very much, Thomas." He seemed annoyed by her. "No need to be so polite and formal." He didn't say why or elaborate. He turned to his desk, "Lucas, it's about time you left. I've got work to do."
Lilith followed Lucas out of the cabin and closed the door behind them.
"He was a little…" Lilith said under her breath, "Weird?" Lucas heard and finished for her. She blushed embarrassed, "Sorry." Lucas shrugged. "It's alright. All children of Hades have some sort of social quirk that develops from their isolation and unwarranted discrimination in the mortal world. Unfortunately, it's not much better in Camp. However, with the guidance of Nico, it's come a long way." Lilith wondered when she'd get to meet Nico. "Social quirk?" Lilith asked and he nodded. "The most common one, is their strong desire not to talk to others. It's not as strong in you, though. Thomas mostly doesn't like talking to people longer than he has to, but generally doesn't hate meeting people." Lilith frowned. "Why are we so… hated?" She asked.
Lucas looked at her, concerned. "It's not that you are hated, but you have to understand, your father is the god of the Underworld… Where all the dead reside. Your powers consist of death and reanimation, for instance, Nico likes to summon skeleton warriors. We are the living, it's not exactly comforting knowing that people exist that have, even a limited, control over that. Mortals don't know that, but they can still feel something emanating off of you, which is why they generally find something 'weird' about children of Hades without knowing why or what… Some say it's a side-effect from the way Hades is treated by his Olympian family." Lilith felt sympathetic then, to her father. "They treat him poorly?" Lucas nodded, "Mostly for the same reasons."
Lilith felt a small pang of anger, it wasn't like Hades had chosen the underworld, he didn't have a choice. He's only making due with whatever hand he was dealt. Lilith then understood, even if only a little, why Hades could be so bitter or vengeful, she would be too.
Lilith had a lot to take in, to understand, but… she wasn't afraid. She felt like she had a purpose, a place where she belonged… She could see why Chris talked nonstop about this place. As usual, whenever Lilith wanted to collect her thoughts and emotions, she painted.
Lilith began walking and Lucas called after her, "Where are you going?"
They reached Arts n' Crafts and Lilith startled a small group of four girls that seemed to be covered from head to toe in make-up, constantly checking on their appearance. They gave her weird looks, disgust, almost, but Lilith ignored them. She set up a canvas and found a palette and gathered oil-based paints. She collected it all, "Carry this," She folded the stand and handed it and the canvas to Lucas, who carried it without question. She walked a few feet away, found the desired angle and set up.
She began painting, while gathering her thoughts.
It took a few hours, but she was calmer, with an idea of what she wanted to do. Despite her earlier conviction of not wanting to get used to the camp, she decided to carry on the legacy of Chris's favorite place in the world.
She stepped and back and beheld her work, of the dining pavilion with Long Island Sound in the background.
Lucas noticed that she had stopped painting, who had impressively, watched without a single word the whole time, and looked over at it. "Impressive!" He said. "You are an artist?" He asked and Lilith blushed embarrassed.
"I-I found a hobby while I was jumping from home to home… It was painting. I can draw too, but I like painting a lot more." Lucas smiled as if he found something amusing. "The Oracle will love you." Lilith's eyes widened. "Oracle? We actually have one?" Lucas nodded. "She's also away currently, visiting Camp Jupiter, but she should be back soon."
Before either one of them could say any more, a conch horn blew in the distance, echoing throughout the valley. "W-What was that?" Lilith asked, "Dinner." Lucas answered.
Lilith sat with her siblings as they ate, learning their names. Nina and Oliver, and Thomas, but she already met them. Nina had shoulder length, curly hair, with blue eyes, she seemed to be unhealthy skinny, but it didn't stop her from wolfing down her plate of food. Oliver was stout, he smiled constantly from ear to ear, with short black hair and brown eyes, he seemed to be young, almost the same age as Tyler. Lilith's eyes widened, Tyler would be devastated.
She wanted to see if she could call home or send a letter, she looked around for Lucas, her eyes swooping over the Director's table, noticing them looking at her. They looked away quickly.
Nervous, Lilith wondered what that was about.
After dinner, the kids were excitedly heading towards an ancient theater looking place, but Lucas and Lilith stayed behind. "The amphitheater," Lucas explained, "Where we have a fun singalong with everyone, lead by the Apollo cabin, the fire is enchanted to reflect the mood of the crowd. It's a lot of fun." Lilith wondered about that, she then noticed that Nina and Thomas were heading towards the cabins, rather than the amphitheater.
"Well, a deal is a deal." Lucas said. "I'll tell you everything I know about Chris." Lilith didn't say anything and listened. Lucas looked up at the night sky, the sun's last rays quickly fading, the stars revealing themselves. "The stars seem so bright here." Lilith noted and Lucas smiled, "The smog is non-existent here, the camp is enchanted that way, it doesn't even rain here unless we want it too."
He laughed. "Chris, huh? It's actually still hard to imagine that he's gone. He was always a bright, cheerful kid, always trying to cheer everyone up. Unlike his siblings, who were hopeless romantics, he was a natural." Lucas began. "Who was his parent?" Lilith asked. "Apollo." Lucas said. "God of the sun, music, poetry, healing, and more. Don't tell the Apollo cabin I said this, but they aren't as good at picking up demigods as they are mortals. The only exception was Chris, he was so genuine and kind, while being good looking; practically the whole Aphrodite cabin wanted him." Lilith pouted at that, a pain in her chest, jealous and slightly hurt. "However," Lucas said, still staring up at the stars. "He always turned them down, always saying that he already had someone special, that when he could leave camp again, he'd go be by her side again." Lucas slowly brought his gaze down from the heavens and down to Lilith.
"I assume he was talking about you?" Lilith's jealousy was replaced by tears.
"He was an incredible marksman, and skilled with a sword. You should have heard him sing, he was incredible. He sang a lot at the Amphitheater, songs he wrote himself, directing them towards a 'special someone' in the mortal world." Lucas laughed.
"When we first met, I've been in camp when I was around four, he arrived a month after my sixth birthday, kicking and screaming that he wanted to leave. Of course we didn't let him, I hated that he seemed to disregard his family and that we were just trying to help. We got into many many arguments and fights, but when we were ten, me and him went on a quest together. A powerful half-blood had been discovered by a satyr and we were to be the extraction team. We discovered that a pack of Dracaena, snake-women, had been after the half-blood too. We were outnumbered and tried to run, I tried to protect the Half-Blood, but… I was too weak, they got to him first and the Satyr. We had to run, but I was too shocked that we actually failed, I stood there and didn't realize an arrow was soaring directly at me. It wasn't until Chris crumpled to the ground with an arrow in his back that I realized what happened. Despite all that's happened between us, I hadn't realized how fond I became of Chris and his determination. I.. became angry that they had shot him, I wasn't about to let them get another one of us, especially him. If anyone was going to do him in, it was going to be me."
Lucas let out a bitter laugh. "I charged them blindly, and didn't even notice until I stood in an ankle-high pile of golden dust. A red aura surrounded me, but was slowly fading. My father blessed me in that fight, and I am grateful to him for that."
"I-" Before Lucas could continue, a voice spoke behind them. "Lilith O'Hara." Lilith was startled that someone knew her real name. She turned to see Annabeth. "Come with me, there is someone that wants to meet you."