I do not own Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.
AN: And here's the Capture-the-Flag game! (Sorry, it ended up being somewhat anticlimactic.)
Chapter Nineteen: Confessions
It took all afternoon to tell her children everything. While she skimmed the details of many things – such as what her jobs for Zeus really were – she and Hades answered every question they asked as truthfully as she could, even the awkward ones – "Aren't you married?" "Yes. My wife, Persephone, is actually the one who set us up again before we knew that Chrysa was Leuke." "Wow." – and did their best to make up for all the secrets they'd kept hidden from their children over their lives. Nico took the revelation of how long they'd been in the Lotus Hotel better than Bianca did, only asking two questions ("How did the war end?" "The US used two really big bombs and dropped them on the Japanese cities. A lot of people died, and Japan surrendered. It happened just a couple weeks after I died." and "Is that why Mamma wears pants now?" "Yes.").
They even had dinner together, though they had it in the dining room and were joined by Persephone, Thanatos, Hecate, Makaria, and Zagreus, the latter two of whom were delighted to meet their half-siblings.
(Father isn't like Uncle Zeus or Uncle Poseidon," Makaria later confessed. "He doesn't have a zillion demigod children running around. Nico's only number twenty in the past three thousand years. Plus, they're not psychopaths, unlike the last few, so they're fun to be around.")
Chrysa also impressed on her children how important it was to keep their parentage a secret.
"Your father is the most feared of the gods. Death is not something that anyone, even gods, understand, so the Ruler of the Dead is not someone that the Olympians make time to understand," Chrysa explained. "They will be wary of you. Their children will be wary of you. And there is a war brewing. It was prophesied that a child of Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades would make a decision to either save or destroy Olympus. They would not trust you to choose to save it. It's why I died as Maria. Zeus killed me."
"But I thought Zeus was your father?" Nico asked.
"He is now," Chrysa confirmed. "And he has sworn to me that you will suffer no harm from his hands or his words. You are my children, and I am his daughter. He had promised to do me no harm. However, you must also keep my previous identity secret. When I was Leuke, I was more feared than your father. I was dangerous, and still am. No secret is outside my knowledge. However, in my mortal frame…they sometimes take a little longer to find."
Nico looked pale.
"No secret?" he asked in a small voice.
Chrysa rested her hands on her son's face and smiled gently at him.
"Tesoro, I do not care who you choose to love. You are my son, and for that I will always love and accept you, just as your father will. And one thing I should mention about the change in decades is that it is no longer seen as abominable to prefer those of your own gender. Yes, there are some who will still curse you, but you are free to love whoever you love. In some states, you can even get married, though I hope that day is still some ways away."
Nico was finally able to smile back as Chrysa embraced him, soon after joined by Hades and Bianca.
Finally, Hades broke away and said, "It's time for you to return to camp. You've been gone all day."
Chrysa kissed him quickly before grasping her children's hands and shadow-traveling away.
They arrived back at Camp Half-Blood just in time for the Capture-the-Flag game.
"We weren't sure you were going to make it," Thalia greeted as they entered the pavilion.
"I've never been able to play before," Chrysa said. "I wouldn't miss this."
She had already provided her children with celestial bronze armor and weapons in preparation for this event. While they had Stygian iron weapons and armor prepared, they shouldn't use that unless they were trying to broadcast their parentage.
She did make sure that each of her children had a Stygian iron knife at hand. Just in case.
It was going to be a small game. There were only a dozen Hunters and sixteen campers. Zoë kept glancing resentfully at Chiron, like she couldn't believe he was making her do this. The other Hunters didn't look too happy either.
On their team, they had Charles Beckendorf and two other Hephaestus campers, three from Ares cabin (though still no Clarisse), the Stoll brothers, Silena Beauregard and two of her siblings from Aphrodite cabin, Percy, Thalia, Bianca, Nico, and herself.
Honestly, with five children of the Big Three on their side, they should be able to pulverize the Hunters. Except for the fact that the Hunters were immortal and had more experience than anyone on the campers' side but Chrysa herself.
It was unusual that the Aphrodite campers were participating, as they usually sat on the sidelines, chatted, and checked their reflections in the river, but from how Silena Beauregard was grumbling, "I'll show them 'love is worthless.' I'll pulverize them!" as she strapped on her armor, Chrysa could guess why the children of the love goddess were finally showing an interest in the game.
"Thalia and I were going to co-captain, but you've got more experience than both of us," Percy said to her. "So, what's the plan?"
Thoughts and plans began forming in her mind, but before she did anything, she looked over at her half-sister.
"Are you alright with that?"
Thalia nodded.
"I'll explain the plan once the game officially begins," Chrysa said. "For now, make sure everyone has their armor and weapons on properly.
"Cool," Thalia said as she went off to help the Aphrodite kids, who appeared to be having difficulties putting their armor on without breaking their nails.
Chiron's hoof thundered on the pavilion floor.
"Heroes!" he called out. "You know the rules! The creek is the boundary line. Blue team – Camp Half-Blood – shall take the west woods. Hunters of Artemis – red team – shall take the east woods. I shall serve as referee and battlefield medic. No intentional maiming, please! All magic items are allowed. To your positions!"
"Blue team, follow me!" Chrysa called out. The campers cheered and followed her out of the pavilion and into the woods.
They set their flag at the top of Zeus' Fist, a cluster of boulders in the middle of the west woods that, if you looked at it the right way, looked like a huge fist sticking out of the ground. If you looked at it any other way, it looked like a pile of deer droppings, but Percy had passed on that Chiron refused to let them call it the Poop Pile, especially after it had been named after Zeus. Chrysa agreed with the wisdom of that decision; her father didn't have the best sense of humor.
It was a good place to set the flag. The top boulder was twenty feet tall and really hard to climb, so the flag was clearly visible, like the rules said it had to be, and it didn't matter that the guards weren't allowed to stand within ten yards of it.
"Percy, I know you have bad experiences with it, but I want you on the border," Chrysa instructed first. "The creek is the boundary. You're the son of the sea god. Use it. Knock the Hunters in if you get the opportunity. Soaking wet arrows can't fly very well."
"No problem," Percy agreed.
"Let's not get attacked by a Cerberus this time, shall we?" she teased with a light smile. The other campers laughed as Percy blushed.
"Travis, Connor, Nico, and Bianca: you're guarding the flag. Bianca, you've got your new bow, I want you in the trees. Stoll and Stoll, set up whatever trip wires, snares, and traps you can come up with around the place, just remember to warn Nico and Bianca where you're putting them first."
The brothers jumped into military position and saluted. Chrysa held back a laugh.
"Nyssa and Lucas are going to be our scouts on our side," she continued, nodding to the daughter of Hephaestus and son of Aphrodite.
"Silena, you're going to lead the leftward decoy," Chrysa said.
"Got it!"
"Take Laurel and Jake. They're good runners. Make a wide arc around the Hunters, attract as many as you can. Thalia, you're going to lead the others around to the right."
"To catch them by surprise?" Thalia asked.
"Oh no, they'll know you're coming," Chrysa said, a smirk playing across her lips. "But we want them to think that you think you're going to take them by surprise. You have your shield. It's a bit obvious. Your job is to attract everyone else."
"I don't get it," Percy said.
"The Hunters think we're stupid. With the numbers we have, they'll expect us to keep about half our campers back, then send a decoy and a main party. We're doing that, and then I'll go after the flag."
"Why are you the one going after it?" Travis Stoll asked.
Chrysa raised an eyebrow.
"Of everyone here, can anyone else a. turn invisible, and b. fly?" she asked, using the winds to raise herself several inches off the ground before disappearing from view amid the shocked whispers.
"Can you do that?" Percy turned and asked Thalia.
"I've never tried," she replied.
"It isn't for everyone," Chrysa said, reappearing behind the pair, who both jumped. "I spent seven years of school on a sports team that used flying broomsticks that flew upwards of a hundred and fifty miles per hour. I am more than used to insane tricks in the sky. I even subbed in for the English Seeker during the Quidditch World Cup a couple years ago when he got a head injury after a bad Wronski Feint, though we lost to Burkina Faso in the Semifinals."
She received several blank stares for that. She sighed and said, "I'm really, really good at flying."
"Ohhhh."
"Is everybody clear?" Chrysa asked.
Everyone nodded and broke into their smaller groups. The horn sounded, and the game began.
Silena's group disappeared into the woods on the left. Thalia's group gave it a few seconds, then darted off toward the right. Chrysa jogged with Percy to the border.
"Remember, no hellhounds," she said, trying to look sincere.
This time, Percy just rolled her eyes.
"Let's just beat these Hunters. Get going."
Chrysa laughed as she stepped up into the air, disappearing as she went. Thanatos' Invisibility Cloak was certainly good for situations when she'd promised not to use her shadow powers.
She soared at a low altitude over the forest, keeping an eye out for the silver flag the Hunters were using. Among the dark trees, it was easy enough to find. It wasn't cheating to use her divinely perfect night vision. She couldn't exactly turn it off.
There was only one guard near the flag, and from the shock of white hair, it was Rhanis. Her hair was probably the reason she was assigned to guard the flag. She wasn't exactly the subtlest, and hair dye was too troublesome for something as simple as a game.
Chrysa landed next to the flag and cast a silencing charm on the Hunter. Rhanis instantly nocked an arrow upon feeling the magic.
Chrysa became visible before saying, "Your sensitivity is amazing. I wasn't sure if you'd feel it or not."
Rhanis fired her arrow, but Chrysa reacted faster.
"Protego!" she ordered.
The arrow bounced off her shield.
"I'll take this," Chrysa said, grabbing the flag. "And we said no shadow travel. We said nothing about no magic."
She turned on a heel and Apparated to the creek, though still on the Hunters' side. She could see Percy a short distance away as she jumped across.
The flag shimmered in her hands. The silver material turned blue, and the embroidered moon and arrows of Artemis were replaced by the lightning bolt of Zeus.
The campers cheered as they converged on the creek. The Hunters looked sullen.
"Cheater," Rhanis mouthed as she appeared on the other side of the creek, before gesturing for Chrysa to take the spell off, which she did with a wave of her wand.
"Magical items are allowed," Chrysa reminded, trying to keep the gleeful tones out of her voice. From the looks on the others' faces, she wasn't doing a very good job. She held out her wand. "Magical item one." She willed the Cloak of Invisibility to become visible around her shoulders. "Magical item two."
Chiron appeared out of the woods, looking both worried and pleased. He had the Stoll brothers on his back, and it looked as if both of them had taken some nasty whacks to the head. Connor Stoll had two arrows sticking out of his helmet like antennae.
"The demigods of Camp Half-Blood win!" Chiron announced. Then he muttered, "After fifty-five consecutive losses."
Zoë, who had appeared behind Chiron, looked ready to argue, but then something else behind them caught her attention. Chrysa turned to see what she was looking at.
Someone…something was approaching. It was shrouded by a murky green mist, but as it got closer, the campers and Hunters gasped.
"This is impossible," Chiron aid. Chrysa hadn't heard him sound so nervous since she was Leuke. "It…she has never left the attic. Never."
And yet, the withered mummy that held the Oracle of Delphi shuffled forward until she stood in the center of the group. Mist curled around everyone's feet, turning the snow a sickly shade of green.
No one dared move. Then her voice hissed inside Chrysa's head. Apparently everyone could hear it, because several people clutched their hands over their ears.
I am the spirit of Delphi, the voice said. Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python.
The Oracle regarded Percy with its cold, dead eyes. Then she turned unmistakably toward Zoë.
Approach, Seeker, and ask.
Zoë swallowed. "What must I do to help my goddess?"
The Oracle's mouth opened, and green mist poured out. The vague image of a mountain, and a girl standing at its barren peak, appeared. It was Artemis, but she was wrapped in chains, fettered to the rocks. She was kneeling, her hands raised as if to ward off an attacker, and she appeared in pain. There was no doubt she was, if she was trapped beneath the weight of the sky.
The Oracle spoke:
Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,
One shall be lost in the land without rain,
The bane of Olympus shows the trail,
Campers and Hunters combined prevail,
The Titan's curse must one withstand,
And one shall fall by a father's hand.
Then, as they continued to watch, the mist swirled and retreated like a great green serpent into the mummy's mouth. The Oracle sat down on a rock and became as still as she'd been in the attic, as if she might sit by this creek for a hundred years.
Dionysus called a council of cabin leaders as soon as the Oracle had been carried back to the attic. Somehow, Percy and Grover had gotten the honor. Chrysa wasn't going to argue about it, not when she had other things to think of.
The council was held around a Ping-Pong table in the rec room. Dionysus waved his hand and supplied snacks: Cheez Whiz, crackers, and several bottles of red wine. Then Chiron reminded him that wine was against his restrictions and that most of the people present her underage. Dionysus sighed. With a snap of his fingers, the wine turned to Diet Coke. No one seemed enthused to drink that either.
"Can I have something stronger?" Chrysa asked.
"If I can't drink, you can't drink," he replied petulantly.
Chrysa sighed.
Dionysus and Chiron (in wheelchair form) sat at one end of the table. Zoë and Rhanis took the other end. Chrysa sat beside her sister, with Thalia, Percy, and Grover lining the rest of the right side of the table. Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, and the Stoll brothers sat on the left. Somehow, all of the Ares kids had managed to get broken limbs during capture the flag, courtesy of the Hunters. They were resting up in the infirmary.
Zoë started the meeting off on a positive note.
"This is pointless."
"Cheez Whiz!" the satyr exclaimed. He began scooping up crackers and Ping-Pong balls and spraying them with the topping.
"There is no time for talk," Zoë continued. "Our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately."
"And go where?" Chiron asked.
"West!" Rhanis exclaimed. "You heard the prophecy. Five shall go west to the goddess in chains. We shall take five Hunters and go."
"Yes," Zoë agreed. "Artemis is being held hostage! We must find her and free her."
"You're missing something, as usual," Thalia said snarkily. "Campers and Hunters combined prevail. We're supposed to do this together."
"No!" Zoë said. "The Hunters do not need thy help."
"Your," Thalia grumbled. "Nobody has said thy in, like, three hundred years, Zoë. Get with the times."
Zoë hesitated, like she was trying to form the word correctly.
"Yerr. We do not need yerr help."
Thalia rolled her eyes. "Forget it."
"I fear the prophecy says you do need our help," Chiron said. "Campers and Hunters must cooperate."
"Or do they?" Dionysus mused, swirling his Diet Coke under his nose like it had a fine bouquet. "One shall be lost. One shall fall. That sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What if you fail because you try to cooperate?"
"Mr. D," Chiron sighed, "with all due respect, whose side are you on?"
Dionysus raised his eyebrows. "Sorry, my dear centaur. Just trying to be helpful."
"We're supposed to work together," Thalia said stubbornly. "I don't like it either, Zoë, but you know prophecies. You want to fight against one?"
Zoë grimaced. Thalia had scored a point.
"We must not delay," Chiron warned. "Today is Sunday. This very Friday, December twenty-first, is the winter solstice."
"Oh, joy," Dionysus muttered. "Another dull annual meeting."
"Artemis must be present at the solstice," Zoë said. "She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos' minions. If she is absent, the gods will decide nothing. We will lose another year of war preparations."
"Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" Dionysus asked.
"Yes, Lord Dionysus."
He nodded. "Just checking. You're right, of course. Carry on."
"I must agree with Zoë," Chiron said. "Artemis' presence at the winter council is critical. We have only a week to find her. And possibly even more important: to locate the monster she was hunting. Now, we must decide who goes on this quest."
"Three and two," Percy said.
Everyone looked at him.
"We're supposed to have five," Percy said. "Three Hunters, two from Camp Half-Blood. That's more than fair."
Thalia and Zoë exchanged looks.
"Well," Thalia said. "It does make sense."
Zoë grunted.
"I would prefer to take all the Hunters. We will need strength of numbers."
"You'll be retracing the goddess' path," Chiron reminded her. "Moving quickly. No doubt Artemis tracked the scent of this rare monster, whatever it is, as she moved west. You will have to do the same. The prophecy was clear: The bane of Olympus shows the trail. What would your mistress say? 'Too many Hunters spoil the scent.' A small group is best."
Zoë picked up a Ping-Pong paddle and studied it like she was deciding who she wanted to whack first. "This monster – the bane of Olympus. I have hunted at Lady Artemis' side for many years, yet I have no idea what this beast might be."
Everyone looked at Dionysus, probably because he was the only (known) god present, and gods are supposed to know things. He was flipping through a wine magazine, but when everyone got silent, he glanced up.
"Well, don't look at me, I'm a young god, remember? I don't keep track of all those ancient monsters and dusty titans. They make for terrible party conversation. Ask the people older than me at this table."
"Who?" Thalia asked, confused.
"I am as old as Lady Artemis," Rhanis offered. "I was one of the original Hunters, along with fifty-nine of my sisters. Most of us have passed on by now. I am the eldest in our present company."
"And I am elder to Rhanis, though she is my mother's sister," Zoë said. "But she has been a Hunter more than a thousand years longer than I."
"Chiron is the third," Chrysa offered.
"Chiron," Percy said, "you don't have any ideas about the monster?"
Chiron pursed his lips. "I have several ideas, none of them good. And none of them quite make sense. Typhon, for instance, could fit this description. He was truly a bane of Olympus. Or the sea monster Keto. But if either of these were stirring, we would know it. They are ocean monsters the size of skyscrapers. Your father, Poseidon, would already have sounded the alarm. I fear this monster may be more elusive. Perhaps even more powerful."
"That's some serious danger you're facing," Connor Stoll said. "It sounds like at least two of the five are going to die."
"One shall be lost in the land without rain," Beckendorf said. "If I were you, I'd stay out of the desert."
There was a muttering of agreement.
"And the Titan's curse must one withstand," Silena said. "What could that mean?"
Chrysa exchanged a nervous look with Zoë and Rhanis. They knew exactly what the Titan's curse was.
"One shall fall by a father's hand," the satyr said in between bites of Cheez Whiz and Ping-Pong balls. "How is that possible? Whose dad would kill them?"
There was heavy silence around the table. Chrysa glanced worriedly at Zoë. Her father would most certainly be willing to kill her.
"There will be deaths," Chiron decided. "That much we know."
"Oh, goody!" Dionysus exclaimed.
Everyone looked at him. He glanced up innocently from the pages of Wine Connoisseur magazine. "Ah, pinot noir is making a comeback. Don't mind me."
"Percy is right," Silena Beauregard said. "Two campers should go."
"Oh, I see," Zoë said sarcastically. "And I suppose you wish to volunteer?"
Silena blushed.
"I'm not going anywhere with the Hunters. Don't look at me!"
"A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at," Zoë scoffed. "What would thy mother say?"
Silena started to get out of her chair, but the Stoll brothers pulled her back.
"Stop it," Beckendorf said. He was a big guy with a bigger voice. He'd also had a crush on Silena that the whole camp (including Silena) knew about for more than two years now. He didn't talk much, but when he did, people tended to listen. "Let's start with the Hunters. Which three of you will go?"
Zoë stood. "I shall go, of course, and I will take Phoebe. She is our best tracker."
"The big girl who likes to hit people on the head?" Travis Stoll asked cautiously.
Zoë nodded.
"The one who put the arrows in my helmet?" Connor added.
"Yes," Zoë snapped. "Why?"
"Oh, nothing," Travis said, a little too innocently to be believable – at least for anyone who'd grown up with Fred and George Weasley. "Just that we have a t-shirt for her from the camp store." He held up a big silver t-shirt that said Artemis the Moon Goddess, Fall Hunting Tour 2002, with a huge list of national parks and stuff underneath. "It's a collector's item. She was admiring it. You want to give it to her?"
Zoë sighed and took the t-shirt.
"As I was saying, I will take Phoebe. Rhanis as well."
"Are you sure, Zoë? With you gone, I am second in command," Rhanis reminded.
"The other Hunters will remain here until we return with Artemis," Zoë insisted. "They will be fine. I would not wish to have anyone else at my side. You have the most experience of any of us."
"And for campers?" Chiron asked.
"Me!" the satyr said, standing up so fast he bumped the Ping-Pong table. He brushed cracker crumbs and Ping-Pong ball scraps off his lap. "Anything to help Artemis!"
Zoë wrinkled her nose.
"I think not, satyr. You are not even a half-blood," she said shortly, leaving no room for discussion.
"I'm going," Chrysa said. The whole table looked at her, but Chrysa looked at Zoë. "You know where we'll probably go – who we'll face. You need me, Zoë, though I know the Hunters traditionally will not travel with anyone not a maiden."
"Very well," Zoë said. "And the second camper?"
"I'll go," Thalia said, standing and looking around, as if daring anyone to question her.
"Whoa, wait a sec," Percy said. "I want to go too."
"The Hunters will not travel with a male, Percy," Chrysa said gently. "Traveling with me is pushing it, but I'm at least female, though I haven't been a maiden in a long time. It is Zoë's quest, and therefore her right to choose her companions."
Percy grimaced, but backed down.
"So be it," Chiron concluded. "Thalia and Chrysa will accompany Zoë, Rhanis, and Phoebe. You shall leave at first light. And may the gods" – he glanced at Dionysus – "present company included, we hope – be with you. Now, I believe Chrysa has promised us an explanation."
Chrysa sighed, picked up a Ping-Pong ball, and threw it at Dionysus. It bounced off the center of his forehead. He lowered his magazine to glare at her, though there wasn't much heat to it. They'd become something resembling friends after dealing with Tantalus, after all.
"I want my alcohol now," she said.
The god rolled his eyes, but waved his hand. Three shot glasses containing three different liquors appeared in front of her.
Chrysa raised an eyebrow.
"Absinthe, ouzo, and vodka? Are you trying to get me drunk?"
Dionysus waved dismissively.
Chrysa knocked back the ouzo, relishing the burn as it went down her throat.
She sighed and looked around the table.
"Well, to cut a long story short, when I became quasi-immortal, it set off a reaction that allowed me to figure out that this isn't my first life."
"What do you mean?" Thalia asked.
A light seemed to dawn in Chiron's eyes.
"I mean that I have twice before died and been counted as a hero, and I have twice been reincarnated. When I achieved quasi-immortality, I started the process of remembering my previous lives. At this point, I have almost remembered all the way back to the beginning of my first life."
"Are you saying that Nico and Bianca are your kids from a different life?" Travis Stoll asked.
"Yes," Chrysa said. She sighed again. "In 1913 – on July 31, my birthday is still the same – I was born in Switzerland. My father was French, my mother was Italian, so while my mother called me Maria, and that was the name I used for most of my life, my birth certificate actually read Marie Olympe. My father died when I was four, and my mother remarried to Michele di Angelo, the Italian ambassador to the United States, less than a year later. It was well known that my parents' marriage was unhappy, so rumors followed me all my life that Michele di Angelo was my biological father. I referred to myself as Maria di Angelo most of my life, though it was never legally my name."
She grabbed the vodka and knocked it back as well, knowing that the next bit was the fun part.
"When I was eighteen, I met a god at the ball that was being held in honor of my eighteenth birthday. I'd always been able to see through the Mist – all demigods who are reincarnated as mortals are clear-sighted – so I immediately knew there was something different about him. I struck up a conversation, he asked me to dance, and he continued to court me after the ball had ended. He was handsome, kind, and the perfect gentleman. More than a year later, I found out that I was pregnant. My parents were in the public eye enough that I couldn't be seen as pregnant out of wedlock, so I went to my lover's demigod son, who worked in the Italian government, and he was able to hide me as Maria di Angelo. Bianca was born the next May. Nico was born two years later."
"The god continued seeing you for that long?" Silena asked, stunned.
Chrysa smiled wistfully.
"He never stopped seeing me. Not while I was alive anyway. World War II started in 1939, and as you all know, there were demigods fighting on either side. When it became too dangerous to remain in Italy, I used my adoptive father's connections to gain sanctuary in America, and my lover got us all out. We spent the next two years living in Washington, D.C. When Nico was ten and Bianca twelve, I died on my thirty-second birthday. My lover sent Nico and Bianca to the Lotus Hotel and Casino for their protection."
"Time doesn't pass there," Percy said. "Wait, when we were there on our quest…"
"I wasn't affected," Chrysa confirmed. "I'm protected from the magic of the Lotus-eaters. But I spent my time with Nico and Bianca. It's where Nico first learned Mythomagic. Bianca learned archery, and she's rather good at it. So I spent my time with my children. I didn't get to see them often."
"You've known where they were the whole time?" Chiron asked. "Why didn't you get them out?"
"It wasn't safe," Chrysa said quietly. "It's still not safe. I would have preferred they stay inside until Kronos' rise plays out. But the Fates told my lover to bring them out of the hotel, and not to tell me."
"How long were they there?" Connor Stoll asked.
"Sixty-three years," Chrysa said. "I've known for the past ten. But I wanted to keep them safe."
"If Maria di Angelo was your second life, what was your first?" Beckendorf asked.
"I was a nymph," Chrysa said quietly. "I was killed about a hundred years before Dionysus was born."
"Wait," Grover said. "Nymphs and satyrs – when we die, we're reincarnated as flowers and plants. How could you be reborn as a mortal?"
Chrysa winced.
"It had to do with the nature of how I died – suffice to say, it was very painful, and they did not kill me before first stripping my immortality from me. I died as a mortal, so my spirit was sent to the Underworld. However, I also counted as a hero, so I was able to go to Elysium and be reborn. As Maria, I helped many young demigods who were affected by the war, and I saved my own children's lives repeatedly, so again, I was sent to Elysium."
"How could you lose your immortality?" Silena Beauregard questioned.
Chrysa paused a moment to think – there were two ways to answer this: the fast way that didn't actually answer the question but would most likely shut them up, or the slower way that involved a lot more verbal maneuvering and might give something away.
She chose option one.
Chrysa stood from the table and lifted the hem of last year's Weasley sweater, which she had changed into after removing her armor after the game. She lifted it to just below her bra line, then tapped her wand on her stomach, dissipating the glamour that covered the horrific array of scarring below.
The room gasped as the old injuries were revealed.
"We're not sure why these scars reappeared once I got my memories back. None of the others I achieved in either of my lives did. Even most of my scars that I gained in this life disappeared when I gained my quasi-immortality. But every line is where they cut into me as they pulled my immortality from me piece by piece."
"They?" Rhanis asked quietly, her voice smaller than Chrysa had heard it since she was actually nine.
"There were three of them," Chrysa said shortly. "I managed to kill two before I died – and they won't be reforming – but the third might. He was eventually killed, but it took a while."
She put her shirt down, hiding the scars that carved their way across her stomach and up her ribs to her heart – Alcyoneus hadn't had the chance to carve her heart out of her heart out of her chest like he'd planned, but if the trio had put a little less effort into torture and more into ensuring her death, Leuke would have never returned – and returned to her seat. She then grabbed the absinthe and downed it as well. Her hangover was going to be terrible in the morning, but that's what hangover potions were for.
"That's how I have two children. It's how I know places I've never been, information I've never learned, languages I've never been taught."
"How many languages do you know?" Connor Stoll asked curiously.
"And how many can you teach us to curse in?" Travis added, a bit too excitedly.
"My first life was pretty much just Ancient Greek, though I traveled a bit and was passable in a few other ancient languages," Chrysa said slowly, thinking back. "As Maria, my parents were French and Italian, so I had both of those from birth. My biological father was a retired officer in the Russian army, and we lived in Switzerland, so I also grew up with German and Russian, though my biological father died before I turned five. My mother thought it was useful though, so I always kept up with the languages. My stepfather was the Italian ambassador to America, and my mother and I traveled with him, so I was also fluent in English by the time I was seven. I learned Serbian as a teenager, so I could speak with my aunt in her native tongue, Dutch a little while later for my cousin's new wife, and Bulgarian after that for his sister's husband. I was also relatively fluent in Latin, though I wouldn't have tried speaking it. Oh, and I learned Arabic while I was pregnant with Nico from a next-door neighbor who was a veteran of Mussolini's African campaigns. In this life, I'm halfway decent at Scots Gaelic, and I know a bit of Welsh and Irish Gaelic. Mostly curse words, if we're being honest. And I'm not teaching you any, in any language."
Both brothers pouted.
"I would ask that you keep the information I've shared with you private," Chrysa said quietly. "It's – it's personal. And if war is coming, weaknesses should not be handed out freely."
"You're calling the di Angelos weaknesses?" Percy asked. The rest of the room – barring the Hunters, Dionysus, and Chiron – looked as if they agreed.
Chrysa smiled sadly.
"Most of you have never been parents. As a parent, unless you're a terrible one, your greatest weakness will always be your children. Keeping Nico and Bianca in the Lotus Hotel wasn't just keeping them safe – it was keeping me safe too."
"Do you know what the bane of Olympus is?" Zoë asked, not trying to be subtle at changing the subject. "You were older than I."
"I believe I do," Chrysa said thoughtfully, thinking back to when she still stood at Kronos' side. It was a little-known story, but Phoebe – the Titaness, not the Hunter – had made a prophecy that if a creature known as the Ophiotaurus was killed and the entrails burnt, then the one who did so would have the power to destroy Olympus. Leuke had managed to pass along the information to Zeus, and when she had killed the beast, Zeus had sent an eagle to snatch the entrails away before she could burn them.
"It's not information that should be shared though, especially if I'm wrong. If the 'bane of Olympus' is going to show the trail, I assume it will show up along our quest. I'll let you know when I see it," she continued.
Things were quiet for a long moment, before Chiron clapped his hands together and said, "If no one else has any questions, several people here will be leaving at first light, and need to get to bed."
No one said a word, though Thalia and Percy were both giving her looks that meant they wanted to.
"So be it," Chiron said. "And may the gods," he glanced at Dionysus, "present company included, we hope, be with you."
The walk back to the cabins was subdued. Thalia and Percy were still shooting Chrysa curious looks, but they didn't say anything. Even once they'd split to go to their separate cabins, Thalia still didn't say anything.
It wasn't until they'd removed all their armor, put their weapons away, changed into their pajamas, and gotten into bed with the lights off that she finally said something.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"It wasn't safe."
Thalia sat up in her bed, which was across the cavernous hall from Chrysa's.
"No. Just no. You don't get to say that. We're demigods. Our lives are never safe. Nothing you can do can change that. I'm your sister. You said we were family. Family doesn't keep things like this from each other," Thalia argued.
"We both have things we haven't told each other," Chrysa tried to soothe.
"Not the fact that you have kids! That's something I deserve to know!" Thalia shouted.
"You never told me about Jason!" Chrysa yelled back.
Thalia was silent. The moonlit room didn't offer much visibility, but Chrysa's impeccable night vision allowed her to see the tears falling down her sister's cheeks.
"You…you know about Jason?" she asked, her voice subdued.
Chrysa's tone shifted to match.
"Your baby brother," she replied. "You were five and half years older than him. When you were eight and Jason was two, your mother took you on a field trip and Jason disappeared. You never forgave her, and you ran away shortly afterwards. I guessed you didn't want to talk about it, so I never said anything. You don't talk about family. You don't even use your mother's last name."
"I didn't want to be a Grace, after she lost Jason," Thalia muttered. "It's why I asked to be enrolled in school with your last name."
"There's things that neither of us want to talk about," Chrysa said quietly. "I haven't asked about yours. Please do the same for me."
Thalia didn't reply. She laid back down on her bed and rolled over so that she was no longer facing her sister.
Chrysa sighed internally and laid down herself. They had to be up way too early in the morning for to not at least try to get some sleep.
AN 2: I've managed to get through all but the last chapter of the Titan's Curse arc, so I plan to go back to my once-a-week posting schedule. I meant to post this yesterday, but it slipped my mind.