Sorry I haven't updated in forever. I've been able to focus on everything but this story which makes writing it difficult. I'm already starting to have the same problem with the next chapter because it is the last one before the action starts. All reviews are helpful so PLEASE REVIEW!
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Nico went to the Big House early the next morning, hoping to catch Kaie before the others showed up. Luckily, she sat on one of the porch swings staring out over the camp, seemingly lost in thought. She wore a dark blue tank top and black shorts. Her bare feet tapped against the wooden planks of the deck. Nico sat down beside her, the swing creaking and the shift in weight. "You feeling better than yesterday?" Nico asked quietly, leaning back against the swing.
Kaie moved a leg up so her chin was resting on her knee, continuing to stare out at the camp. Nico was unsure of what to say in the silence but his thoughts were interrupted by Kaie turning suddenly to look over at him. With a start, he saw that her eyes were a much paler gray than they had ever been.
"This isn't going to be normal. You get that right?"
"Huh?" Nico had no idea what she meant.
Kaie gestured with a hand to both of them. "Us. It's not going to be a normal relationship."
Nico grinned crookedly and gestured at the camp that was just beginning to come to life. "I'm used to abnormal." Kaie's answering smile was the only response Nico needed as she leaned over and kissed him quickly before pulling away. "Good, 'cause I need to borrow your hellhound." A grin spreading across her face to match his.
"She's as much Percy's as she is mine." Nico protested for a moment then realized she was right. He did spend more time overall with Mrs. O'Leary in recent years. Percy had less and less time recently.
"Why do you need her?" He asked after a moment, his curiosity rising up once again.
Kaie grinned again then stood, stretching. "Transportation." She shifted her attention to the cabin leaders who had begun to walk towards the Big House, leaving Nico alone on the swing.
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Kaie looked around at the cabin counselors who were assembled once again in the rec room. Everyone was waiting on her, not knowing she was also waiting. Artemis had Iris Messaged her late last night to tell her the Hunters would be here in the morning. Sure enough, a few minutes later Thalia walked into the room. Many of the demigods clustered around her, asking questions but she simply looked over at Kaie and nodded.
She pushed Nico away from where he leaned against the pool table with a hand. "Ow." He fake complained, the humor in his voice earning him looks from several of the other demigods.
Shaking her head in amusement, Kaie pulled a roll of paper from where she had left it from the door before spreading it on the pool table. The demigods clustered around the table, eyes assessing the large map. "Thalia is here because the Hunters were informed of a wealth of hunting targets in the same area as the deathgate. For the safety of everyone possibly involved she is here so her Hunters do not hurt Campers should they be in the same area within the next day or so. Theoretically speaking of course."
She turned and looked at Clarisse who nodded and stood to speak. "Last night one of the patrols found a young drakon walking the edge of the camp boundaries." Everyone listened silently, many had thought they had heard a commotion last night but hadn't been sure. Clarisse continued, "We did everything possible, including decapitation, and it just kept coming at us and the boundary. Mr. D showed up out of no where while we were fighting it and incinerated it in purple fire which was the last we saw of it." Looks of shock were on the faces of many of the demigods. Monsters they could handle, they spent their summers training for them but unkillable ones...
"That is what you would be facing should you be in Apache National Forest tomorrow. If you can't handle it, don't be there." Kaie told the group bluntly. By keeping every word she spoke theoretical, she stayed safely on that thin line. She had been up for hours during the night and into the early morning reviewing maps of the area and every resource possible for information on deathgates.
With a finger, she pointed to the location of the deathgate on the large map. "Tomorrow I need to be here in order to close the deathgate. Only closing it will allow the creatures to actually die. Even the one Mr. D incinerated is alive again, it was simply damaged to the point that it had to return to the gate."
She traced a circle around the deathgate's location. That is the approximate circumference of where the monsters are. They completely fill the area." She looked up at the demigods that circled the table, looking down at the map. A wide range of emotions filled their gazes. Fear, curiosity, excitement. Once again she found herself wondering if she was doing the right thing by bringing them into this fight. Steeling her resolve, she continued.
"The gate itself is in a valley, which is good for us. Long range fighters like Apollo Cabin and Hunters should be split between these two hillsides. Aim for the monsters closest to the gate. Hand to Hand fighters which is about everyone else will be patrolling around the edge of the area to make sure no monsters get away. If they did they would head straight for populated areas and start killing."
"Wait a minute." Clarisse interrupted. "If you have all of us on long range attack and clean up duty, who in Hades is going to actually be attacking?" Frustration and confusion were both apparent in her voice.
Kaie knew that any daughter of Ares would want to be on the front line but it would be too dangerous for any demigod. "I am." Kaie hesitated as several demigods began speaking at once, arguing pointlessly.
"And the Gods." They fell silent immediately.
"Our parents?" The Head Councilor for the Demeter Cabin spoke after several minutes of silence that gave Kaie more time to think.
"Some." Kaie told them shortly before continuing. "I have been able to apply the ancient laws...creatively to this matter." Nico snorted loudly, earning him a glare from Kaie. He simply grinned in return.
Kaie rolled her eyes before explaining. "It is the affair of immortals rather than connected specifically to demigods or a quest. The elder gods cannot fight without physical proof but the others can."
"You are not a better fighter than Percy or Clarisse but you will be in the middle of it." Annabeth pointed out.
"True but I have to be there to close the gate. Also, you have never seen my true abilities demigod." Distaste seeped into Kaie's voice as she forced the demigods around her to remember that she was not one of them.
Annabeth stood silent for a moment, arms crossed at her chest, glaring at Kaie before speaking again. "You know how to close the gate?"
"Yes." Kaie's voice was heavy with honesty. "It's complicated and involves Mist manipulation at a level higher than anyone else can do."
"Even the Gods?" Annabeth pushed the issue wanting absolute certainty.
Kaie nodded."Even the Gods."
Kaie looked back at the map then around at the demigods,who taking all the information in. "Stay in teams of two no matter what. Watch each others backs. If you plan to be there, transportation leaves at six tomorrow morning."
The demigods seemed to know a dismissal when they heard one and they left the room in small groups. Kaie left the map on the table and walked out to the back porch, watching the movement of the demigods going about their lives at camp.
"You sure you can do this?" Annabeth stood behind Kaie in the doorway with Percy a few feet behind her. Kaie nodded and turned away again. She could hear their footsteps moving away then another set coming towards them.
"You okay?" Nico's voice was strong as he came up next to her.
"Yeah. I need to do nothing for now and save my strength for tomorrow." She turned into his strong body, smiling slightly when his strong arms encircled her waist. She rested her head against his chest for a moment before looking up at him. "Will you do something for me?"
"Name it."
"Mrs. O'Leary will be at your father's palace. He has enhanced her ability to shadow travel is strong enough to carry a large number of people."
"You want me to go get a dog?" Nico asked with disbelief.
Kaie grinned cheekily and corrected him. "Hellhound." She kissed him for a moment. "And yes, please."
Nico grumbled and rolled his eyes. "Fine. Now?"
"The sooner the better so she can rest here." He nodded and disappeared into the darkness.
Kaie stood alone for a moment before turning back to the railing. It would so easy to stand here, watching the kids run about below. For a moment she felt relaxed but this was quickly swept away by reality rearing it's head.
Without thinking, Kaie reached for the bottle of gin she had left out on the porch earlier in the morning. Half empty but good enough. She took a swallow before turning back to the picturesque view. Naiads, Nymphs, Satyrs, and demigods all part of a vibrant picture.
"Enough to make you sick isn't it?" Kaie turned to look at Dionysus as appeared out of the air next to her.
He raised an eyebrow at the bottle in her hand. "You do realize that surviving tomorrow only means your liver will give out twenty years from now because of the sheer amount of alcohol you've drank over the last few days."
Kaie couldn't stop herself from laughing. "This from the God of Wine?" Dionysus merely shrugged.
Kaie turned back and watched the scene for a few more minutes before it burst out. "Why do you do it?"
"What?" Dionysus didn't bother to turn away from the view.
"This." She gestured to the camp with a hand. "Why do you act so disinterested in them. Why do you purposefully get their names wrong."
This time he did turn to look at her. Purple embers glowing in his eyes. "I have seen too many demigods come over that hill and die. My own and others. My disinterest makes them push to prove themselves. Not to me or Olympus but to themselves."
Kaie let out a rueful laugh and finished off the gin. "I know you care but not enough to still be here. Why stay?" Dionysus raised an eyebrow. Kaie rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that. I know Zeus actually negated your sentence after the last war instead of that fifty year reduced sentence crap you told everyone else. You're here at the camp because you want to be."
Surprise flashed across the god's face then he laughed. "My replacement isn't ready."
"Who is it?" Dionysus raised his eyebrow again. "You know. Quit digging for absolute proof." Kaie sighed and relinquished the issue, her suspicions confirmed.
She began to go back into the Big House to review the armor she had scrounged from the armory before the sun was up that morning but was stopped by the god's voice. "How did you know? Only Chiron and Zeus knew till now."
Kaie grinned over her shoulder before holding up the empty bottle in her hand. The clear glass was free of dust. "Chiron doesn't drink gin." Dionysus' quite laughter followed her into the rec room.
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