Chapter Seven: Finish to a Long Day and the Forced Conversation

Chiron had a long chat with her about how her day was so far, listening to everything that she explained even though she left out a few details here and there like her threat to the child of Hermes and the curse she had brought upon the Ares cabin. At a few things that she mentioned, Chiron chuckled by how she talked so excitedly about everything.

"So you enjoyed your first official day out of the Big House?"

"Oui! But what did Clarisse mean by Friday before she got herself drenched?" She asked, taking a sip of the tea that the centaur gave her.

"She was talking about our usual game of Capture the Flag. We hold it every Friday before the sing-a-long around the camp fire."

"Am I allowed to play, too?" He then sighed and patted her head gently.

"I'm afraid you're not ready to join them in playing yet, my dear… When we're sure that you're capable of doing so, we'll allow you to join the game with the other campers."

"Alright…" Annie replied, pouting a little and looking like she was about to cry, trying to see if she could make him allow her to play.

"That's not going to work and you know that, Andromeda. Besides, you don't even know how to play."

"But isn't it just like a battle? Two sides against each other trying to fight for the same reason?"

"Sort of… The campers aren't really fighting. It's only a battle game to test the skills of a camper and allow them to have fun and the teams to show off what they can do. Even though you're not playing this week, I'll allow you to watch and learn the meaning of the game from a safe distance." She then nodded with a sigh before sipping on her tea again, deciding to end this pointless argument about her playing as well. Annie then placed her empty glass down and stood up from her seat.

"Can I be excused, Chiron? I want to run around and find out anything I can about the camp on my own."

"You may, but make sure that you join everyone at the dining pavilion at seven-thirty. You'll sit with me or, if you wish, with Luke's cabin even though they'll be very crowded."

"Okay!" She giggled before running out into the sunshine again. With a smile, she decided to spy on Percy again. Once again, she arrived late in the conversation but decided to listen all the same.

"But that hardly ever happens. The last time…" Annabeth cut herself off, leaving curiosity to run wild about what they were talking about.

"Back in the sick room, when you were feeding me that stuff–"

"Ambrosia."

"Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."

"So you do know something?" The blonde asked, her shoulders tense about their conversation.

"Well… No."

'Isn't he helpful…' Annie thought, shaking her head from disbelief.

"Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?" Before answering, she clenched her fists while the young gypsy leaned a little forward as she listened carefully to them.

"I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so normal."

"You've been to Olympus?"

"Some of us year-rounders–" Then everything went quiet for her as well as her sight. Everything turned dark and cold as she heard voices and murmurs. Some were audible, talking about the solstice and the immortals on Olympus, but those that she couldn't make out properly blurred together. That's when the ghostly images appeared before her.

A battle or war that was going on, two people were fighting amongst each other with swords with people watching while another scene was set. Two boys talking to each other, their body garbed in armor and wielding blades until all different scenes began to come one after the other, clouding her mind and filling her with pain from the cries that came from them.

The voices and surroundings suddenly became silent again as she seemed to be standing before a large abyss right at the edge, looking into the darkness that was there as if she was about to fall into the pit. She could hear chuckling from deep within its depths, sending shivers down her spine and making her grow cold.

"It seems that you're quiet the gifted little child, aren't you…? You'll do nicely to lead them to me."

"Wh-what do you mean…?" She stammered, her voice faint no matter how much she tried to raise it as well as being unable to move.

"Bring me what the gods are fighting about as well as the boy. Assist bringing me Zeus's symbol of power and the boy and I'll let you and your little friends live." Annie then shut her eyes tightly and screamed out as loud as she could while the echoing voice laughed while the air was now ripped from her lungs, falling to the ground and trembling from fear as she curled up and covered her ears from the voice as well as gasping for air after screaming. Her heart was beating rapidly to the point where the sound pounded in her ears.

"What the–? Annie?" Percy quickly rushed to her side, trying to calm her down. Once she was able to see him properly again from the foggy haze that filled her eyes, tears welled up as she started to cry and latch onto him tightly as she had done with Chiron and Luke when she was scared. Although he seemed like a naïve person, she could easily tell that he was at least good enough to have some of her trust even if he was a fool in her eyes at the time.

"What happened?" She then sniffled and looked up at him, fear shining in her dark blue eyes.

"I…! I never had a vision like that before…! No, th-that wasn't a vision… That was a message. That person was trying to c-command me to… To…!"

"It's okay, stop crying. Um… Let's get you some help. You said you were unstable, maybe you've been outside for too long."

"No! That wasn't a relapse; someone powerful was trying to bend me to their will! They threatened me!" She sobbed violently. Without saying anything, he pulled Annie to her feet and led her back to the Big House to calm down. When she started to go upstairs, she could hear the older demigod explaining what happened to Chiron, knowing that he'd talk with her about it later but only after she had time to herself alone in her bedroom.

It had been a long while as she was up in her room, her crying voice muffled out by the pillow she was sobbing into, and she now was staring out her window. Just that one vision drew a lot of strength from her to maintain her control and it left her feeling drowsy and weak. With a sigh after calming down, Annie crawled out bed and straightened herself up again but only paused as she looked at herself in the mirror, first seeing herself until her eyes had became misty once again. The reflection showed her more than what she'd normally expect.

The image that was looking back at her was a taller teen with long black hair that cascaded over her shoulders in small waves down to the middle of her back, her skin was creamy white like it was made of porcelain with gleaming blue eyes like they were sparkling sapphires. The clothes she wore was a royal violet dress that ruffled slightly at mid-thigh with fishnet stockings and elbow length gloves and a pair of simple black dress shoes with skulls on the buckles. The teen looked so much like her mother that she couldn't help but feel her eyes sting slightly from the tears that wouldn't come. She had already cried so much for that day.

She smiled at the image as she gently wiped her eyes in case there were still some stray tears, knowing that it was only a simple message to keep her on track for the future.

"Merci… I won't forget." Annie murmured before quickly leaving her room and following Chiron out to the dining pavilion.

Her dark eyes widened as she looked at all the campers that were filed out by their cabins, waving really quickly to Luke, Percy and Annabeth before taking her place beside the centaur. She looked about the pavilion as she stood beside the one person who seemed like her guardian at the camp, completely amazed by the sheer number of people and nature spirits that began to fill the area.

Although she wasn't amused that she had to sit at the same table as the resident god, Annie didn't want to be too far from the elder centaur that practically took care of and raised her since she first arrived at camp. Finally after a moment of normal chatter from the others, Chiron pounded his hoof against the floor of the pavilion to cause everyone to fall silent before raising his glass.

"To the gods!" He called out, getting the same reaction from everyone.

"Pour les dieux…" Annie said softly, her eyes down casted as she did. She kind of felt out of place as she called out to the gods as they had, it just didn't feel like it was quiet part of her just yet because of the isolation she had to deal with for three years. The platters they carried were covered with food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and barbecue. Lean and healthy so that anyone at the camp had plenty of energy when it came to training and fighting.

The wood nymphs began to serve the usual healthy food that she was accustomed to since her first day at the camp, softly thanking the nature spirits without looking into their faces when they gave her parts of her meal. She sighed softly as she gazed at the tables, noticing that, as usual, her father was left out. A wave of sadness fell over her as she observed this, knowing that if they found out who she really was, that she wouldn't be welcomed there any longer.

"Chai tea…" She said to the goblet, watching it fill with the ginger brown liquid before picking it up, closing her eyes as she smelled the spices that were inside it then drinking it carefully since it was hot. Annie then noticed the others were getting up from their seats with their plates, walking towards the brazier that was in the center of the pavilion. As she stared fearfully at the flames, she almost jumped out of her skin when a hand was placed on her shoulder.

"You're still unable to stand fire yet, are you?" Chiron asked her comfortingly, gaining a nervous nod from the young girl.

"D-do I have to do it like the others…?"

"It's customary to offer a part of your food to the gods, Andromeda. If you wish, you can go with Luke when he does it and see if he could help you so that you're not alone." Annie gulped but followed the others, joining the Hermes cabin as they were heading up to the fire while she quickly stood next to the taller teen.

"Um… Luke? Do you think you can help me? I can't seem to do it alone or else I'll probably have a relapse from looking at the fire." He looked down at her and smiled, chuckling slightly at her request.

"Okay, I'll help. We wouldn't want all that hard work of yours to go to waste, now would we?"

"Merci, Luke." The young demigod said happily, smiling back at him in reply as they came closer and closer to the brazier.

Once it was they reached the bronze brazier, Luke looked down at her while she nervously tossed in one of the slices of brisket before she bowed her head.

"Père, s'il vous plaît aidez-moi ... J'ai besoin de votre force de qui déjà essayé de me contrôler." She prayed before leaving Luke to do his own offering and returning to Chiron's side, her body faintly trembling from being close to the flames.

"You did well, my dear." Chiron told her softly, gaining her attention.

"Non, je n'ai pas... I'm trembling. I asked for papa to give me strength when I offered part of my meal. I didn't get to tell you what happened earlier today. Someone used my powers against me and was trying to bend me to their will… I couldn't move or anything. Chiron, I… I'm scared of the voice that I heard…" She explained to him, her voice almost cracking from fear.

"Calm yourself, Andromeda… We don't want you to be distressed and cause a scene. My child, you can tell me later back at the Big House." The centaur stated, trying to calm her down since she seemed like she was about to cry again and gaining a nod from her but nothing more as she started to silently eat and drink.

Although Chiron had pounded his hoof against the floor to gain everyone's attention for Mr. D to say his announcements, Annie really couldn't keep herself to pay her respects to the god except sit silently and sip her drink. He spoke of the capture the flag game for Friday and of Percy Jackson, the new camper.

Once he was done talking, she looked up to see that the others were already leaving the pavilion and decided to follow along, kind of confused about where they were going until they reached the location with the campfire. No one really noticed her as she sat the farthest from the brilliant fire somewhat in the shadows until Luke had came over to her with some s'mores while laughing and smiling before sitting down next to her.

"Hey, Annie. Why are you sitting back here?" He asked as he offered her one of the gooey treats then noticed that she flinched from the question.

"I'm still not ready to deal with being near fire like everyone else… Luke, it just really scares me." She said softly while she looked at the s'more that he gave her.

"Um… What's this?"

"You can't honestly tell me that you haven't had a s'more before?" Luke asked, chuckling, until he noticed that she looked up at him in confusion.

"You really haven't? Wow, that's kind of surprising… Well, it's a gram cracker with a bit of chocolate and a roasted marshmallow. It's really good, try it." He explained with a smile while she tried her first bite, laughing at how surprised the young demigod looked about it.

"Good, right?" Annie then nodded with a bright smile but didn't answer back verbally as she continued to munch on the warm and somewhat gooey treat.

Later that night, Annie was sitting at her window with a little smile and softly giggling as she was writing down that days events in her journal. But what stopped her and made her pencil freeze was the recollection of the threat she had received in her vision. For a moment, she was absolutely still that she didn't even breathe for a second until she managed to break free from that feeling and continued writing.

'Papa, I wish you could visit me like you used to… Then I wouldn't feel so lonely even though I made a friend. If you were here, then I could tell you everything that I had foreseen.' The young gypsy thought with a sigh as she closed her journal and put it away, now crawling into bed with a yawn.

"Bonne nuit, mon père..." Annie murmured before drifting off to sleep, hoping that she would get to see her immortal father again.

A.N. ~ Thank you for your patience, everyone! I've been having problems not only with writer's block but I've also had MAJOR problems with my computer. The internet wasn't working properly and that means that I couldn't add the little translations that I wanted OR add anything new to my story. It made me kinda depressed when that happened... Well, here's the next chapter and I promise to be working more on my story for everyone to read! Also, sorry if I take too long, but I'm trying to get the right words out and I'm having to work on selling the jewelry that I make and eventually putting them up for sale on the website Etsy. Here's the usual translations below so you're not having to rack your brain(s) over what she was saying! Not that many words to translate this time, luckily. :3

"Oui!" -Yes!-

"Merci" -Thank you-

"Pour les dieux!" -To the gods!-

"Père, s'il vous plaît aidez-moi ... J'ai besoin de votre force de qui déjà essayé de me contrôler." -Father, please help me... I need your strength from who ever tried to control me.-

"Non, je n'ai pas..." -No, I didn't…-

"Bonne nuit, mon père..." -Good night, father…-