Energy Unbound

Chapter 02

Fitting In, Uniquely

"My Lady," Chiron said, respectfully bowing to the image of the Ari's mom.

"Chiron, it's just a message," Ari sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, "No need to be formal."

Much to her surprise, the image of her mom scowled. "Now Ari, did you really believe I'd trust your hand off to a simple message?"

Ari jumped out of her chair. "Ow!" she yelped, rubbing the side of her head that hit the floor, "Mom! That was not funny!"

Ari's mom had a giant smirk on her face. "It was amazingly funny. Chill out, dear."

Ari glared in response.

Chiron watched the exchange in bewilderment. "Pardon me, My Lady, but who exactly are you?"

The goddess held out a hand, and a glowing orange spiral flashed into existence. Chiron's eyes grew wide, his face paler than a ghost.

"You recognize that symbol, Chiron?" Ari asked, finally sitting on her chair again.

The centaur seemed unable to respond, but there was utter fear in his eyes. Ari rolled her eyes and turned to her mom. "Alright mom, you going to fill me in?"

"No need. You already know everything you need to. You just... forgot it for a while," the goddess replied, then held her other hand out to her daughter. "Take my hand and your memory will be unlocked."

Ari stared suspiciously at the image of her mom. "Did you do something to me?" she asked, arms crossed.

"Locking your memories was necessary, or the Olympians would have been alerted to your presence," she explained with an impatient expression.

"The gods can smell memories?" Ari asked in disbelief.

"Not necessarily, but that's the easiest way to explain it. Now get over here, young lady," the goddess demanded.

The girl stuck her tongue out, but nonetheless uncrossed her arms and brought her hand to touch the holographic hand of her mom. As soon as their hands touched, Ari felt like an electric jolt had shot through her entire body. She got an ear-splitting headache, and let out a scream. Power coursed through her veins, filling a void she had no idea existed. The fog in her mind she hadn't noticed before seemed to be lifting, and within the fog lay impossibilities. Truths about her and her mother, what they both really were, the extents of their existence. The state of the universe at large, information on so many other worlds. But most importantly, what the presence of one of them on this planet meant.

Ari stared wide eyed at her mother, for she could not call the woman a goddess anymore and be factually correct. The existence they shared was so much larger than that.

"Mother, why am I here? Don't you usually handle this?"

By this time, Chiron had recovered and was staring at the two of them with a very grim expression. Ari raised her eyebrow at him, but only got a shaken head in response.

"Looks like the lock opened correctly. Good. Sorry about the pain, dear," her mother apologized. "As for your question, yes. I handled the last three. But this time is different; it's not only the gods that will be affected. Their children are too involved to exclude them, but they would never tell their side of the story to a deity," she explained.

"You want me to befriend them, get their side of this fiasco," Ari stated, more a conclusion than a guess.

"Yes. They will trust another demigod. Join the camp, fit in, become a part of their family. Reveal to them what you are when you feel the time is right."

"Isn't that using them, though? Lying to them like that?"

Her mother nodded her head glumly. "Unfortunately yes, but it must be done. They deserve that much," she sighed

Ari raised her brow at this. "Why do you care what they deserve? You didn't before," she said, crossing her arms.

A pained expression dawned on the image of her mother's face. "You've been asleep for a long time, Ari. Things have changed."

The girl looked bewildered. "You never change."

"I have, you must accept that. Contact Hestia, she was my confidant the last time. This system is now under your domain."

Ari nodded, despite still not believing it. "What about my previous... encounters? Should I contact them, warn them about what's happening?"

"That's your prerogative. I'd recommend Chronos at least, you know how pissed he can get when he's left out. The Norse are busy with that Magnus kid, try not to bother them. I trust you will make the right decisions, my daughter."

And with that, the image faded, the comm ball stopped glowing, dropping back down to the desk, and the girl and the centaur were left staring at each other.

For several minutes they sat in silence, neither breaking eye contact. Finally Chiron seemed to gather his wits. "So, My Lady, what exactly are you doing here?"

Ari glared at him. "Cut the My Lady crap, Chiron. I'm supposed to fit in. Won't be able to do that if you address me as anything else than a demigod."

"But you're not-," he began to protest.

"You are to treat me like anyone else at this camp, do I make myself clear?" Ari asked, a dangerous look on her face.

Chiron gulped. "Yes."

She nodded, then grabbed the comm ball off the desk and pocketed it. Standing up, she began to walk to the door before remembering to ask something important.

"Chiron, where should I sleep?" Ari asked, looking back at him.

The centaur blinked, wondering why she needed to sleep at all. Oh, right, fitting in. "Down the hall to the left there are a couple of guest rooms. Feel free to retire to one. We will get you situated in the Hermes cabin in the morning."

The girl nodded, then decided to answer his earlier question. She paused at the door, her right arm leaning against the frame. "The reason I'm here is because in a period of under ten thousand years, two major Primordials had to be put down and Titan and Giant wars have occurred twice each. Those wars were perpetuated with the help of a third major Primordial. That kind of trauma and betrayal turned Terra into a beacon of disorder, drawing the attention of my mother." She turned back to him, a very grave look on her face as if she dreaded what she would do in the coming months. "I'm here to fix the problem."

Leading a stunned centaur behind, Ari left the office and headed to the guest room.

Before she turned the corner, Chiron swore he'd seen a small cut on the arm she'd leaned against the doorframe, healing rapidly. He resigned that it was just a trick of the light, for the other possibility was too hard to believe.

After all, not even Chaos had silver blood.

-LB-

Dawn came to Camp Half-Blood, the sun slowly overtaking the darkness of the night. Sensing the warm rays of Apollo's chariot, dryads emerged from their trees, smiling at each other and the beauty of the forest around them. Naiads swam from their underwater homes to frolic on the surface, splashing and playing as they always did. Most of the demigods were still asleep, but the early risers like the Apollo and Hermes cabins were already alight with activity. Apollo kids could rarely sleep past dawn, as they rose when their father did, and Hermes kids always had too much energy anyways. Yells of anguish or annoyance could be heard from within. The only other cabin with conscious occupants was Athena's, but unlike the hectic chaos present in the other two cabins, they were reading books.

It was this sight which met Ari when she exited the Big House, as she had learned was it's name. Chiron led her across the field separating the House from the rest of camp, and trotted towards the Hermes cabin in silence. About halfway there, she got fed up.

"Why so silent, Chiron?" Ari teased.

Chiron hid it well, but he was startled. To his credit, after his hooves had resumed their normal rhythm he had a solid tone to his words. "I am still getting used to treating one such as yourself like the others here," he replied with a gruff voice, "doing so is not in my nature."

Ari walked quickly to get in front of him. Once she did, she stopped moving, twirled around to face the centaur, and crossed her arms. "Chiron, I'm not any different from the demigods here."

Chiron had a predictably incredulous look on his face.

"What I mean is, despite what I may be or what my abilities are, my memories depict a normal mortal life before now. One where I did not know my mother," Ari clarified.

"Didn't your mother 'unlock' your true memories, though?" Chiron asked, puzzled.

Ari ran a hand through her long hair. "Yes, but they're not my only memories, if that makes sense. I've got two lives in my head."

The centaur had a 'Please continue' look.

She sighed in exasperation. "Facts, figures, knowledge comes from my true memories. But my personality seems to be built upon the mortal life," Ari explained.

Chiron looked worried. "Does that not bother you? That you are basically a different person?"

Ari visibly shuddered, remembering what the previous version of her did for fun. "No."

"No? Most beings would have said yes."

Ari glared right at him, more in fear than in anger. "Trust me, if you knew what past me has done... Well, suffice it to say, this world probably wouldn't be here anymore if past me still existed."

Chiron's eyes widened, but he nodded and stopped asking.

They stood there a a few minutes, nervously looking at each other. Eventually Ari got antsy, and started off towards the cabin she guessed to be Hermes's. Chiron did not follow, seeming too unnerved to be around her right now. Which was fine with her; he'd come around eventually. It was just a lot to take in.

As she approached Cabin Eleven, Ari took in the mismatched architecture of them all. Cabins One and Two were on opposite sides of the Greek Omega symbol that the cabins made up, and were equally as dull as each other. They were entirely composed of white marble, with more columns than necessary and construction that screamed Greek Temple. Cabin three seemed to easily break the mold, since it looked like a sea shack blown up to the size of a normal house and smelled like the ocean. Undoubtedly Poseidon's cabin.

Ari kept looking at the various cabins, her legs continuing on autopilot to Cabin Eleven. She was so enthralled by them that she didn't notice when she walked up the stairs and promptly hit the door of Eleven with her face with a loud BANG.

"Son of a brick!" Ari cursed, rubbing the side of her head. She hopped around, trying to accelerate the healing process. She may heal fast, but pain still registered. Her hopping made loud thumping sounds on the wooden deck, so if nobody knew she was there after implanting the door, they did now.

That person opened the door just then to see what the commotion was. He blinked and pinched himself when his eyes saw a crimson haired, very attractive girl in jeans and a sweatshirt cursing up a storm and hopping around rubbing the side of her face.

Ari noticed his presence and expression, and immediately tried to right herself. Unfortunately she did this mid-hop, so she landed on the deck on her butt. As if she wasn't already embarrassed enough. Her face, already red from physical exertion, turned a bright pink.

"Um... You okay?" the boy asked, looking at her with confusion.

"Yeah, I think so," Ari lamented, getting up and brushing off her pant legs. "Just eternally embarrassed."

The boy rolled his eyes. "Who are you and what do you want?" he asked with a smile.

Ari extended her hand to shake. "Ari, 18, Unclaimed."

"Travis Stoll, age unimportant, Son of Hermes," the boy responded with a smirk, accepting the offered shake. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood!"

"Thanks for the welcome Travis, but I actually arrived last night," Ari said, sticking her thumb over her shoulder at the Big House. "Chiron let me stay in a guest room until morning."

"Where is the old horse?" Travis asked, looking around behind her. "Unclaimed people are usually dropped off here by him or someone else."

Ari crossed her arms. "I can take care of myself, so I walked myself."

"Ah. Well, come in! Meet everyone" Travis said, gesturing the the open door as he stepped to the side.

"Thanks," she said, nodding to the boy's over acted chivalry. "Just don't start holding doors open for me."

"Anything you wish, My Lady," he teased, bowing and twirling his hand theatrically. This caused him to receive a light punch on the arm, to which he just stuck his tongue out.

Ari shook her head and went inside, Travis following and closing the door behind him. The inside was okay as cabins go. There were bunks on the walls each with a chest next to them, doors for restrooms, and sleeping bags on the floor. A large door to what must have been a closet stood off the entryway.

She wasn't impressed. "So, am I to just grab a bunk?" she asked nobody in particular.

"Nope!" yelled another boy who had popped out of nowhere. He looked identical to Travis, probably a twin. But startling Ari was not a good idea, something they would both become very aware of quite quickly.

She was a blur of motion, and with a hum had her gun summoned, the boy pushed up against the wall with her hand around his neck, and a cold look in her eyes, which were rapidly scanning his face. The gun continued to hum, several rectangles on the barrel glowing with orange energy. All of this happened in under a second, leaving a shocked Travis and his twin with fear in his eyes. The other children of Hermes looked on in horror, several dropping items they'd been carrying.

Another few seconds and Ari realised no threat was present. Sighing in relief, she unsummoned the gun, took her hand off the boy's neck, and let the friendly appearance her eyes normally held return. "Sorry. You startled me," she explained to the twin.

"No kidding," he croaked. "I'd say nice to meet you, but now..."

Even Travis looked a little offput. "Remind us not to prank you, ever," he whistled, "you can be scary, Ari."

The twin looked at his brother. "Scary Ari. New nickname?" he said with a gleeful look, getting over the fear rather quickly for Ari's tastes.

"No," she commanded, glaring at them before Travis could respond.

They both looked crestfallen. "Aww."

Travis spoke up. "Ari, meet Connor Stoll, my brother and partner in crime."

Connor fist bumped his brother. "Got that right!"

"Right, Hermes kids. God of thieves," Ari groaned, rubbing the bride of her nose.

"And messages, communication, and travelers!" the entire cabin piped up in sync, seeming to have said that many times before.

"Stealing my stuff would be a bad idea, guys," Ari warned.

They both gulped. "Got it." they said.

Connor's eyes lit up as he realized something. "Ari, how did you get a gun? And where did it go? It was a gun right?"

Sighing, she willed her gun to exist once again. A short hum and it popped into existence, one second not there and the next simply there. The Stoll's eyes went wide, clearly impressed.

"How can you do that?" Travis asked, astounded.

"One of my abilities from my parent," she replied, not keen on explaining.

"I've never seen a demigod with that ability before," Connor said, "who's your godly parent?"

Ari shrugged. "I'm Unclaimed," she half-lied. If the twins could detect the falsehood, they didn't let on.

"Can we hold it?" Travis asked, looking like a kid in a candy shop.

Ari rolled her eyes. "Boys and their toys," she muttered, getting appreciative glances from the girls in the cabin, but handed the gun over. As they were messing with it, she felt the urge to ask. "Are you twins?"

They looked at her with a bored expression. It occurred to the girl that they were probably asked that a lot. What she did not expect was the answer.

"Nope!" Connor exclaimed, "Travis is older than me."

Ari was confused. "But... You look identical!" she replied, waving her hands at each of them, exasperated.

"Same mom, same dad, barely enough time for Travis to be born to separate us," Connor said.

Ari screwed up her face trying to conceptualize how that worked. Seeing this, Connor went into further detail. "Hermes is a god, and the god of speed. Figure it out."

She did, and scrunched her nose in disgust. Before she could continue down that line of thinking, her gun began to emit a loud hum. Her eyes grew wide, and she grabbed the handle, turning the business end away from Connor. An extremely loud, high hum rang out causing the ground to quake, and the front wall of the cabin disappeared in a giant flash of orange light so bright it momentarily turned to daylight inside the cabin. When the dust cleared, the Stolls and Ari were seen clinging to the literal smoking gun by everyone near the cabin looking at them in shock.