Hey, back with chapter eight on the weekend! So yeah, that's really all I have, to HoneyFawn I will make sure to update every week, I just like to have an approximate date set so that you guys don't have to guess and I don't get lazy and slack off :). I'm glad you love the story and I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)
"We should just shadow travel back, it would be so much faster." Alex grumbled, shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans as we walked down the dark streets.
"No." I said, fighting off the chill from the cold concrete against my bare feet. "I remember what Nico told me about shadow travelling and what it did to him. I don't want you to overexert yourself."
"You knew Nico?" Alex asked, surprised.
I froze in shock at the use of past tense. "Nico's dead?"
"He's been dead for a while." Alex informed me, turning to face me and my heart sank, I'd been hoping he was still alive. "He was a powerful demigod, a son of the Big Three and he refused to live in New Rome." Alex looked down the street, tensing up a little. "Around the time Demigods first started going missing, almost thirty years ago, Hades asked Nico to investigate."
"So Nico went missing?" I asked, surprised.
Alex shook his head. "No, he died. Almost twenty years ago he was found dead, a sword wound on his chest. The thing is . . . when his spirit went to the Underworld it remembered nothing. Hades found traces of the River Lethe on his soul, whoever is behind these disappearance's has access to The Underworld and they're very good at covering their tracks."
"A sword wound?" I whispered, shocked. "But . . . he was an excellent swordsman. And he had powers! Who could do something like that?"
"It might not be a who." Alex said, his voice grim. "It could be a what."
"What happened to Nico's soul?" I asked Alex, wondering if he was basking in the fields of Elysium like he deserved.
"He was reborn." Alex said and I looked at him in shock, my jaw dropping.
"What?!"
"The children of The Underworld have a very special relationship with the rivers in The Underworld because of our father." Alex explained. "Nico had been doused in it as a child yet when he saw things from his past his memory started to come back, because of that connection. Hades figured that it would happen again with Nico, however since Nico was dead he couldn't go up into the mortal world to try and regain his memory. Since he was granted Elysium he made a deal with Hades to go for rebirth to try and get his memory back and try to remember what happened to him."
"That . . . is actually really smart." I said, thinking it through. "And selfless. Poor Nico though, he deserved to stay in Elysium and he didn't deserve to die so young and so tragically."
"Young? He was a hundred and some." Alex pointed out and I waved dismissively.
"Okay, maybe not young." I conceded, thinking that if he was still alive we'd be roughly the same age, although I was a few years older. I didn't really want to call myself old though. "Let's go with young adult?"
Alex studied me incredulously before sighing. "I forgot how old you are." He grumbled and I laughed a little.
"I could be your . . ." I began, trailing off as I thought about it. Wow, I was pretty old. "You know what? Never mind."
Alex laughed.
"So . . . do you know who Nico was reborn as?" I asked and Alex looked grim.
"No, but he's not anyone at camp." He told me. "I would know because I can tell those things, ancient souls call out to me and I can sense traces of the river Lethe on them, no matter how faint. Nico's soul . . . since he was my brother I should be able to find it."
"Did you ever meet Nico?" I asked Alex and he shook his head.
"He died right before I was born." He told me. "And went for rebirth when I was almost two, I never met him or his soul."
"So if we can find Nico's soul then we may be able to follow that lead to the killer?" I asked.
"Not killer." Alex said curtly and I mentally cursed, remembering his sister was one of the people missing. "None of them have showed up in The Underworld, Hades, they aren't even praying to their parents for help! It's like they've vanished!"
I put my hand on Alex's arm, making him look at me. "If they aren't dead then we'll find them and we'll get them back." I promised him, hoping I could keep it.
"Almost thirty years." Alex said, shaking his head. "And nothing, no trace of them. How is that possible?"
"We're children of immortal Greek Gods." I reminded him. "I could give you my life story but it's rather long, the point is none of this should be possible either but it is."
Alex nodded, walking again and I followed him back to Camp Half-Blood.
. . .
We headed straight for the Big House although I would have rather headed straight for the showers and then my new bed. Still, we had to report what we found and I had to get Chiron to enroll me in Alex's school.
Sure I'd be a month or so behind everyone else but I could use the mist to trick them into thinking I was a transfer student or something. This was important, I was almost convinced that the school held the clue I needed, I just had to find it.
It wasn't a coincidence that both Alex and the oracle went to that school. I was working with Alex to find whoever was taking the Half-Bloods.
"We're back." I announced, pushing open the door and heading inside. Alex followed me and I heard Chiron's wheelchair as he came out to greet us, looking relieved.
"I'm glad you've made it back in one piece." He said, examining us. "I was worried that monsters might have gotten you." His expression however begged to differ, he was worried we'd been taken as well.
"We need to talk." I said, looking at him.
He nodded, wheeling his way into the living room and we followed, sitting on the couch and telling him basically everything. He seemed troubled that Hecate had come to inform me herself although when Alex brought up the Roman idea he shot it down immediately.
"No, the Romans are our allies and they have been for almost sixty years." Chiron said with a shake of his head. "They would not kidnap other demigods, especially their own allies."
"It's not their style." I pointed out, leaning back in my chair. "I mean when they took me and Jessica they only held us long enough to have a public execution. No way they would have held someone for that long."
Alex raised an eyebrow in surprise, not commenting while Chiron looked saddened and grave, as if reflecting back on it.
Truthfully I hardly remembered any of it, I had been so sick that it all just seemed like one giant pain filled blur, but I faintly remembered Jessica screaming for Chiron. And I remembered her death, it was seared into my mind forever.
"Then who could it be?" Alex asked, seemingly frustrated.
"If it wasn't for these coins we would just assume they left on their own." Chiron mused.
"No, Mackenzie would never leave like that." Alex said with a sharp shake of the head. "Hades would have found her, I would have found her."
I reached out and took the coin, examining it. "There's blood on it. I think it's safe to assume the blood is Darren's."
Chiron seemed to age before my very own eyes as he reached out and grasped the coin. His eyes flickered to a picture on the wall and I looked over at it, my heart breaking.
Percy and Annabeth were smiling into the camera, but they looked older, maybe their fifties. It was around Christmas time and they were wearing Santa hats, Annabeth and Percy were sitting beside each other, Percy with his arm slung over her shoulders. Sara stood behind them, balancing a younger Darren then I'd seen in my dreams on her hip and a man with black hair and grey eyes was cradling a baby in his arms, a Christmas tree and hearth in the background.
Their family. I thought, my throat closing up with emotions as I looked at it. They all looked so happy and care-free and content. They got to do it, they got to have a family.
But now Darren's gone.
I looked at the picture, knowing Percy must be worried sick about his grandson and I felt my resolve building. I'd find Darren, just so I could see the happiness on Percy's and Sara's face as they were all reunited.
Darren would not suffer a hero's fate.
"Percy's in New Rome you know." Chiron said. "As well as Piper, Hazel, Frank, Leo and Calypso."
I looked over at Chiron, realising he saw me staring at the picture. "I can arrange for a visit if you'd like."
I opened my mouth but no words came out, my throat closing up. Gods, they'd be in their sixties, they're old now. I still look like I haven't aged a day.
"I'd love to." I said softly and Chiron smiled. "But . . . I have something to do first."
"And what's that?" He asked, puzzled.
"I have to get caught up with everything I missed while dead and enroll in Alex's and Alison's school, as soon as I can."
Chiron frowned softly. "Why would you want to do that?"
I told Chiron about how I figured out the clue, or rather how I planned to find the clue.
"Dianna, you just came back. It will take a while to catch you back up and make a suitable cover story and to get you enrolled in any school." Chiron informed me and my heart sank for a second before I clenched my jaw stubbornly.
I'd faced down countless monsters, the earth goddess, Kronos, Python, the pits of hell and even death. Compared to that enrolling in high school couldn't be too hard, right?
"I'll use the mist to make an alibi." I said determinedly. "It's been a while but . . .I should be able to."
"Still, you know nothing about this century Dianna." Chiron pointed out. "You'll be lost in school."
"Get the Athena cabin to start teaching her while you work out a suitable alibi." Alex suggested and it made sense to me.
Chiron still looked doubtful. "That many half-bloods in one school is risky." He warned us. "You'll attract monsters, with Alex being a child of Hades and you Dianna –"
"With my reputation?" I asked, giving him a tiny smile. "I'm a child of a minor Goddess, my scents not that strong."
"You're stronger then you think." Chiron informed me. "If you really think you're ready for the transition so soon then I suppose I can try and enroll you."
"It's not a matter of me being ready." I said softly. "It's a matter of doing what needs to be done. We have to find the clue, we have to stop the half-bloods from going missing."
Chiron nodded, looking grave.
"We should probably get some sleep." I said, looking out the window at the lengthening shadows. I was feeling the events of the day starting to catch up to me and I couldn't wait to curl up and go to sleep.
"Alright, I'll speak with the Athena cabin in the morning." Chiron said. "If they agree your lessons will start immediately. I'll talk with your siblings about creating an alibi."
I nodded, standing and giving him a hug. "Thank you Chiron."
He looked sad. "I was hoping to keep you out of this." He admitted to me. "I wanted you to have a peaceful time back, the gods know you deserve it."
"But the Fates have different plans for me." I said with a sad smile. "It's okay, I mean . . . I know what usually happens with these types of things. Better me then someone who has everything to lose right?"
"I think you have more to lose then you realise." Chiron said gravelly, I waited for him to elaborate but he didn't, just turned and wheeled himself out of the room. I looked over at Alex, frowning a little.
"That was odd." I said. "Who knew Chiron was so optimistic?"
"I think you mean pessimistic?" Alex corrected with a raised eyebrow.
I sighed, my shoulders slumping. "Sarcasm isn't a thing anymore, is it?"
Alex snorted, shaking his head and walking out of the Big House. I took one last look at their family photo, smiling sadly before turning and leaving, wondering if there was any chance I could find Darren and the others alive.
I headed back to my cabin, sneaking in and noticing with relief that everyone was sleeping. I crept over to my bunk, sliding into it and falling asleep, not even caring about the fact that it had no sheets or other clothes to change into.
I couldn't help but wonder what tomorrow would bring.
So, not to exciting but with this story there's a slow beginning and it's going to have a different little twist on it then the others. It's going to be a bit more mystery then action, but there will be action in it, so I hope you enjoy. See you next weekend with the next update! :)
