Gods are remarkably resourceful. Calliope had gotten away with "inspiring" her son, Apollo had sent dreams to his son and then transported him from Long Island to Florida, and Helios had figured out that Zeus wasn't paying close attention. It was a fairly easy matter for Hecate - Mistress of Magic, Keeper of Keys, Three-Faced, Frequenter of Crossroads, Crone and Virgin - to figure out a way to help her son.
Besides, Hecate was Titan-born. So was Helios, for that matter, and both Calliope and Apollo. Poor Zeus, with the godly born he had more sway, even more so when they were his own children, but over the Titan-born...
Zeus had already given Hecate more power than he ever intended. Before the lots were divided for Sea, Sky, and Underworld, Zeus gave Hecate a measure of each. She could travel anywhere on, below, or above the earth. Long Island? An easy hop.
The Book was bound entirely in pewter, with sigils that had been the letters of the ancient language of Chaos, the language of spells. The words in The Book were written in that same language; they moved across the page, fading in and out. Complex diagrams and drawings scintillated around. When Hecate touched The Book, the sigils on the cover flared with purple light.
The words could only be read by a few - four people actually - but they contained the secrets of magic. These words could burn stars, and raise up empires, and topple gods (oops, don't tell Zeus that last part). It would have been better for Hecate to keep the words under her protection, for the last time these words had been in the hands of mortals - well, Hecate still refused to be blamed for atomic bombs.
And those selfsame powerful words were neatly tucked under the blanket of Nasim's trunk by his mother while he and the other campers were at the dining pavilion. For a second or two, the cover of the book continued to glow through the sheets, lighting Hecate's face for a moment. But then the light slowly faded and Hecate was left in darkness. She liked the darkness and always had. For in the darkness, one could simply disappear...
Nasim kept one eye on Andy throughout dinner. It was probably just that she was sitting all alone at her table, but it was also because she looked so incredibly sad. Nasim had never seen a meal Andy didn't inhale, but tonight she played with her food. And at the campfire she burned three marshmallows in a row, making Nasim think she didn't really want them.
Andy was wearing clothes to were too big. They were mostly black with the names of bands Nasim had never heard of written across. He sort of wondered it those were Nico's clothes. Would that be weird, Andy wearing her half-brother's clothes? Probably annoy the Hades out of Nico, but Andy always did. Nasim sort of wished Nico was here, he could take charge of his sibling.
It was a tradition at camp to burn shrouds when it was not possible to recover the body of a dead camper. Nasim and Andy's cabins made them shrouds as well, just in case. Nasim's was black with purple, silver, and gold designs that flickered across it in an untraceable pattern. Lou commented that it was a shame they had to burn it. Apollo's cabin had come together to make Robin and Andy's shroud under the direction of Will. Andy's was dark grey with a silver tiara looped around a white bone - the symbol of Macaria. Robin's was forest green with spring green leaves and red feathers embroidered all over it.
Andy was supposed to burn her own shroud and give a speech as Robin's was put on the fire, but she vanished as soon as the time came. Oenone would have been next in line, possibly even before Andy, but the naiad had gone back home in a way only water nymphs can - it really brought new meaning to the phrase "dissolved into tears". But the naiads in the lake had promised to get her back to the green wood, if it was still there.
Nasim and Will stepped up and gave a combined speech. Nasim left the bonfire right after the burning and went back to his cabin. He had to pass Cabin Eighteen on the way. It was so light colored that it almost shone in the darkness, except for the places the windows were, which were black and empty. For a second, he thought he heard someone inside, but pegged it down as his overwrought imagination as he continued on to his cabin.
He went to his bed and fell into it, ready to let sleep take him and erase the hollowness in his stomach. Instead, something sharp poked him in the back and he yelped, jumping out of the bed.
Nasim thought that it might be the muhaddab, because the corner that had poked him felt like the tip of its sheath, but when he pulled aside the blanket there was a book.
A really strange book. Nasim turned the lights on with a flick of his fingers and sat down on the bunk, opening The Book.
At first, he thought the combination of weariness and dyslexia was making the words swim across the page. Then he realized that they were actually swimming, high-diving, water aerobics-ing, and every other activity resembling synchronized swimming across the page. And he could read them. Once he'd gotten used to the dance they made, he found that their movement actually made sense of it.
In fact, it was their dancing that made the spell, for every spell Nasim could imagine - and quite a few he couldn't - were written here. And as he read, it was like the spells became imprinted in his brain. The letters swirled off the page and entered his head, filling it with knowledge.
Every spell used by Circe, Merlin, Prospero, and Houdini was written here. There were also several Nasim recognized as the roots of spells used by Chrestomanci, Gandalf, Dumbledore, Jadis, and several others.
Nasim had no idea of when Sabrina or Lou got back. He was vaguely aware of them saying something about the lights, so he made a small, purple fireball hover over his head so they could turn off the lights and get to sleep.
He stayed up all night, letting the words of magic fill his head and infiltrate his memories.
A/N: Footnotes:
Titan-born: Hecate, daughter of Perses and Asteria - Helios, son of Hyperion and Theia - Calliope, daughter of Mnemosyne - Apollo, son of Leto.