PERCY
In the entirety of my life, there've been few things I had witnessed that were colder than the glare Annabeth gave that poor blonde girl, and that's coming from someone who's hidden underneath a Hyperborean.
However, what terrified me, even more, was the stare the girl shot back at my girlfriend, holding her ground with the same tenacity with which Annabeth was holding hers. Suffice to say, the tension was palpable. The other two campers shifted uncomfortably, and avoided making eye contact with Chiron, clearly waiting on the oldest girl's cue. Before the stand-off could turn into a staring contest, I cleared my throat and gave Annabeth a small nudge (although I was slightly concerned she would judo flip me on the spot). Reluctantly she met my gaze, and I could tell she was judging the present situation, the gears in her mind twisting and turning.
"Please excuse my intrusion, do you know each other?" Chiron asked, his gaze shifting between Annabeth and Helena. Annabeth placed her hands on her hips and before the girl could mutter a word, she turned to Chiron and spoke with a polite smile.
"No, we don't. Her name is simply written on her bag." Annabeth pointed to a wine-colored backpack that rested on the floor, next to where the girl had been sitting. Sure enough, embroidered on the top of one of the straps was the name, Helena. "I simply guessed." Annabeth shrugged indifferently.
Annabeth crossed her arms over her chest, coolly, but I could tell something was off. Despite her guarded nature, Annabeth tried as a general rule to always be welcoming to new campers (with the exception of me, of course), and refrained from intimidating them unless the circumstances merited it. So, what the hell was that? I thought, sneaking a small glance at her. She gave me a quick look and pursed her lips slightly as if telling me: we'll talk later.
"Oh, yes of course. Well, then," Chiron continued gesturing towards us. "These are Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, they are some of our more experienced campers, so I thought it best if I left the three of you in their care for the time being. Unfortunately, it seems I must return promptly to Mt. Olympus. Mr. D seems to require my assistance." Chiron finished saying, a defeated look creeping on his face, as he attempted to maneuver past the demigods.
"Better not keep those diet cokes waiting," I mumbled under my breath to Annabeth, who gave me a stern look.
"I heard that Mr. Jackson, one day that mouth of yours will get you into more trouble than you can get out of." Chiron said exasperatedly, as he slipped his tweeded suit-jacket on, and grabbed a light brown, leather cap from the coat rack before leaving through the main entrance.
"He always says that, has he met me?" I complained, before grabbing a seat and putting my feet up on the ping-pong table.
The three kids followed my lead and sat back down, although Helena kept glancing over at Annabeth whenever she thought no one would notice. Annabeth, on the other hand, kept her distance, leaning against the old juke-box silently. I shot a quick glance at her, before turning to the kids sitting beside me.
"So, what exactly is this place?" Said the dark-haired girl, Kassandra. She was the youngest of the bunch and didn't seem much older than when I first set foot at camp. She had large, curious eyes that wandered around the room. The boy who seemed to be a few years older, scoffed.
"Is no one really gonna talk about the horse-man? I mean the technical term is centaur, I'm not sure if horse-man is politically correct, but you all saw that, right?" He said, taking off his glasses and wiping them furiously with his shirt. A smile tugged at my lips, remembering that not everyone was as used to magical creatures as we were.
"Yeah," I let out a small chuckle. "That's Chiron, he's the camp director who also happens to be a centaur. How do I put this lightly, you know the Greek myths? And the gods? And the monsters who are always trying to kill you? Well, all of it's real, and you made it past the camp's borders, so that means that you guys are demigods." I explained as succinctly as possible.
For three kids who had just been told that they were the children of immortal beings and that virtually every virtual creature in the book was real, they seemed unfazed. Hector had his hand on his chin and had been slightly nodding as I spoke, Kassandra kept looking around, except she seemed more uninterested now than before, and Helena was softly tapping her fingers on the table, her expression serious. I shot a pleading glance at Annabeth who was studying the trio from her corner. She must've caught my look since she unfolded her arms and with a sigh came to the table.
"Have you been claimed yet?" She asked, simply studying each one of the three kids.
"Claimed?" Answered Hector, a look of confusion plastered on his face. The three of them stared at Annabeth waiting for clarification, but she shot a glance in my direction.
"Yeah, it's basically when your godly parent lets you know that you're their kid, their symbol glows on top of your head. It's a whole thing and it's kind of hard to miss. It usually happens pretty early on." I responded.
They all seemed as clueless as I had when I'd first arrived at camp, the only difference was that even for being late-bloomers, judging by their ages, they should've been claimed a long time ago. The youngest, Kassandra, looked about 12 or 13 years old, Hector seemed to be slightly older, maybe 15 or 16, and Helena looked our age. It was rare enough that a demigod would survive the first few years of life without knowing who their godly parent was, but not knowing until your late teens, it was practically unheard of.
"We don't have godly parents." Replied Helena who was nervously tugging at a small pendant by her neck. Had I not been paying attention, I might've missed it. Kassandra shot a strange glance at Hector, who straightened his posture in his seat. Annabeth's ears perked up at the girl's response, as she leaned forward and looked straight at them.
"We?" She asked, her finger tapping coming to a halt.
I realized now that up until this point we had been under the assumption the three kids didn't really know each other beyond having traveled to camp together. Although it symbolized luck, three was a relatively large number of demigods to travel together, especially if they were untrained. I figured they'd encountered their fair share of monsters before reaching the camp's protective boundaries, but looking at them now I realized there was barely a scratch on them. Sure, their clothes were dirty, and they looked like they'd been traveling, possibly for a couple of days, but beyond that was the worst of it. I thought Annabeth had been right to keep her guard up, something wasn't adding up.
"Yes, we. We're siblings, I'm the oldest, Hector is in the middle and Kass is the youngest. We're the Johnsons, or what's left of them anyways…" Helena answered, her voice trailing off at the end. Hector shot a deadly glance at his sister as she said that last part, meanwhile, Kass, as Helena had called her, shifted her glance downwards and began playing with a long strand of ink-black hair.
WEIRD, was the only thought I could manage, and one glance at Annabeth told me my girlfriend was thinking the exact same thing. We'd only ever met two other pairs of siblings who'd been born to the same godly and mortal parents. Nico and Bianca DiAngelo, and Thalia and Jason Grace, although even then it could've been argued that they were the kids of different versions of the same god, which wasn't exactly the same god if that made any sense.
"You guys are doing those weird looks again, what is it? You can't seriously tell me that the fact that we are related is weirder than the centaur!" Hector said, throwing his hands up and gesturing to the place Chiron had been standing in a few minutes prior. I had to give it to the kid, at least he had a sense of humor about things. Annabeth sighed and gave the kid a small shrug. I could tell she was softening up to them, even if what they were saying was bizarre.
"Not weird, just highly improbable. We can still try to narrow down who your parents might be, who did you grow up with? Or maybe you saw someone at some point? Someone your mom or dad met up with before your brother and sister were born?" Annabeth spoke softly and looked at Helena as she asked that last question. The girl with the dark honey-colored hair looked away, her eyes focussing on the jukebox.
"I was five when Kass was born. I don't remember anything. Besides, we grew up with both, our mom and dad. They… They're gone now, so we were told to come here. That's all we know." She spoke, and a somber silence passed through the room. I remembered how heartbroken I had been when I'd first arrived thinking my own mom was dead, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for the three kids sitting in front of us, as scared and lost as we'd all been at some point.
"I'm sorry for your loss, but I need to know who sent you here. Three unprotected demigods would've attracted a lot of attention and you three barely have a scratch on you. There's also the fact that you're all pretty old to not have any idea who your godly parent is. We need to make sure this isn't a trap." Annabeth said, her walls coming back up as she gestured towards the three of them. This time the one who spoke up was the youngest girl, her hands still playing with the strand of hair.
"We don't know who sent us. He just gave us your names and told us to find you, then he disappeared into the dark. We fell asleep, and when we woke up, we were here, right outside the big sign." She said shyly. Her siblings both looked at her like that was a detail she was meant to leave out, but she seemed unbothered, her eyes shifting from a blue to green hue as she focused on the ends of her hair, laced through her pale fingers.
As soon as she spoke I felt a sharp pull in my gut, and without looking I could tell Annabeth was thinking the exact same thing, there was only one person we knew that could disappear into the shadows, never to be seen again. Nico. It would've made sense that Nico would send lost campers their way, especially if he suspected them to be Greek, but Nico had been in New Rome for the past month or so, only shadow traveling back to camp-half blood to visit his boyfriend, Will Solace. Still, it was strange he hadn't even sent an Iris message to Chiron with a heads-up although, I also suspected that with the son of Hades, you were never really told the full story.
"I take it you haven't noticed any weird powers either, no manipulating water, or summoning lightning bolts or casually convincing people to do what you want by telling them to?" I asked cooly. Kassandra giggled, while Hector stared at me like I was deranged and Helena rolled her eyes and simply shook her head. "Okay then, you are most definitely unclaimed, so Hermes Cabin it is, then." I said in a friendly tone, but I could tell the three of them were nervous. They wanted answers that we couldn't give them, and I didn't blame them, it was a normal feeling among most of the new campers.
"Get your stuff, we'll give you the tour, and don't worry. You'll be safe here." Annabeth said, her tone softening towards the end, stressing the word, safe. Helena nodded, biting her lower lip, for a moment, despite her hard exterior, she looked afraid. As we began to get up and turned to leave, I noticed Hector reaching out to squeeze his older sister's hand as she glanced between Annabeth and me, a glossy look briefly passing through her dark green eyes. I wondered what exactly they had seen before making it to camp, and why, despite the girl's stoicism, her hands trembled at the sight of us.
The tour was for the most part, uneventful. Wild pegasi ran loose through the stables, Cabin 9 erupted in flames at some point (again) and by the lake, some nymphs were gossiping about two campers who had apparently been caught in less than optimal circumstances in a canoe. Pretty much your typical day at Camp Half-Blood. When we passed the Dining Pavilion, a few dryads shot Annabeth and me nasty looks due to the mess we caused in the pantry. I shrugged and mouthed a genuine sorry in their direction, though I doubted that would change much of anything. For the most part, the demigods seemed to be enjoying the tour with Annabeth doing most of the explaining and with me cracking most of the jokes to keep the tension at bay. Kassandra glanced at the pegasi, wide-eyed as they soared through the skies, and asked if she could ride one (which I promised I would show her in the evening). Hector focused on asking Annabeth about the technical aspects of camp, how the borders worked, how come the flame at Hestia's hearth never extinguishes, and whether they would be getting weapons. The only one that remained relatively quiet most of the time was Helena, who seemed more at ease than she had back at the big house, but would always remain a few feet behind Annabeth and me, never venturing too close. At first, I wondered if I'd forgotten to wear deodorant, but after a while, I began to suspect that maybe she was just more guarded than the others. Unlike Annabeth's own blonde hair, Helena's was short and a darker shade of blonde, curling in every direction. However, even though they had different colored eyes, like Annabeth she had an intense and intelligent stare and faint freckles that covered her cheeks and arms. Whenever the girl looked at me, I felt restless, like she could disarm me and knock me out with just one look. I couldn't help but think that looking at them side by side, that if he didn't know any better, he would've thought they were sisters. By the time the tour was done it was close to lunchtime, and even though Annabeth had admitted she wasn't hungry (which I found absurd since I was always hungry), she agreed to walk with us over to the mess hall.
"Well, I guess this is it for us. Usually, you would be sent to your godly parent's corresponding cabin but since you haven't been claimed yet, you're stuck in Cabin 11, with the Hermes kids." Annabeth said finally, looking at the three kids as she spoke.
"Isn't he the god of thieves?" Asked Helena, looking slightly worried at the suggestion.
"He was also the god of travelers if that helps." Mumbled Hector, to which Annabeth nodded.
"Unclaimed demigods stay there in passing until they are claimed, but I'm sure it won't take long for your godly parent to recognize you. Even Percy had to spend a few days there before Poseidon finally stepped up." She told them sympathetically.
"Poseidon's your dad?" Asked Helena looking at him, her eyes widening slightly.
"He is, and Annabeth's mom is Athena, the point is you'll find out soon enough, I promise," I said, hoping I would be able to deliver.
The kids didn't seem too convinced as a knowing look passed between the three of them. I knew Annabeth could tell, as could I, that we weren't hearing the entire story, but given the circumstances under which they had arrived at camp, neither of us pushed. We said our goodbyes and headed towards the cabins.
"I'll meet you at your cabin in a few minutes, okay?" Annabeth said, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek and I nodded, making my way to the blueish grey building on the other side of the quad.
It took Annabeth about 15 minutes before she barged in my cabin carrying an absurd amount of books and scrolls, and dumped them on my bed, pacing back and forth anxiously. I stared at her with my head slightly tilted, hoping she would notice my confusion soon enough and would feel compelled to explain what was going on, but after 5 minutes of pacing, I decided to take matters into my own hands.
"Would you mind telling me what that was all about?" I said, interrupting her train of thought and restless pacing. She bit her lip as if debating whatever she was about to say. "C'mon, you can tell me."
"I know that girl, Helena." She said, her eyes staring deeply into mine.
"What?" I asked before she slumped down on my desk chair.
"I don't know know her, but I've seen her. She's the girl I keep seeing in my dreams, except I see her as a kid and then, how she is now. They're lying about something Perce, I can feel it, I just can't put my finger on what. In my dream, I hear her parents fighting like they are hiding from something. And when I see the house, when I'm lying on the floor I hear Kassandra and Hector too, Kass is the one that finds me before they call for Helena. She's the last thing I always see before I wake up." Annabeth said before pausing to take a breath, her eyebrows furrowing together as she attempted to recall any other detail.
I stared at her incredulously. I knew we were both thinking the same thing, if the girl from Annabeth's dreams was Helena, it meant that she was real and if she was real, it meant that everything else Annabeth saw was real too. I didn't know what to say, I didn't know if I should say anything at all, but I knew this meant there was something bigger happening, something that if my girlfriend was right (and she usually was), meant there was more to this story than meets the eye. I saw Annabeth throw her head back and close her eyes, letting out a deep sigh, and I stood up and slowly made my way to her. Placing my hands on her shoulders I gave her a small kiss on her forehead and nestled my nose on top of her golden blonde curls, squeezing her hand in support.
"We'll figure this out you know, I'm sure there's a logical explanation to this, all of it. And the three of them seem like nice kids, I'm sure whatever they're not telling us, they have their reasons." I said softly, and I felt her breathing ease slightly, as she let out a small chuckle.
"We are royally screwed if you're the one talking rationally Seaweed brain." She said, throwing her head back once again to face him. I narrowed my eyes and met her bright grey ones, as I feigned a hurt expression.
"All I do is try to help and I get insulted!" I said dramatically, which made her let out a loud laugh, Gods I love her laugh.
"You're such an idiot sometimes." She said, still giggling as she spoke and I gave her a smirk, pulling her off the chair and onto her feet.
"I've been told that from time to time, but sometimes idiot is really just another word for bestest boyfriend in the universe. So you're welcome." I said cooly, pulling her into my arms, which only made her giggle more.
"Bestest is not even a word!" She complained, but before she could say another word my lips met hers, and I felt her soft gasp before her lips reciprocated instinctively. I could feel her body ease beneath my hands, now moving alongside mine. I pulled away from the kiss but rested my forehead against hers, looking into her eyes, a small smile playing on my lips.
"I know you're worried, I am too, but maybe this time it isn't up to us to figure out whatever is going on, we're leaving for New Rome in three weeks, I don't want to spend them obsessing over anything other than what our class schedule will look like." I said softly. I knew the dreams had been getting worse for her. Whenever she spent the night, I felt her wake up in a startle most nights, and when that happened, I knew she rarely went back to sleep. I knew my words couldn't keep her from having the dreams, or worrying about them, or even thinking about them, but I hoped they could at least distract her.
She bit her lip softly, before looking at me with an arched brow. "I thought you didn't know which classes you were taking, how can you obsess over something you don't even know yet?" She asked and I gave her a sheepish smile.
"Yeah, I was just saying that to make you feel better about your own obsession." I said, which earned me a playful punch on the shoulder. He fell back on the bed, next to the pile of books Annabeth had brought with her. She walked over to the bed, making a small space for herself before sitting down next to me. I could see the way sunlight reflected off her blonde hair, the way her curls fell across her shoulders and back, as I trailed the soft lines of her jaw and neck with my eyes. I let myself wonder if this is what college would look like with her, being able to just be in the presence of each other, taking in the little moments without the dread of losing each other looming in the back of my mind. If it was, I decided, I would be content for the rest of my days. Annabeth spoke, taking me away from my train of thought. I must've had a goofy grin on my face because she gave me a strange look before continuing her sentence.
"You're right, I know you're right." She said, and I sat up, looking at her.
"Huh? I am?" I said, and she rolled her eyes.
"About not worrying, The dreams could mean anything, and as crazy as it may seem, after everything that's happened this past year, I don't think I want to know what they mean." She said and he gave her an understanding smile before pulling her down towards the bed with him.