Chapter 8, Act I - The First Changes.
"Nice to properly meet you, Annabeth." I managed to keep my composure, thankfully. What? I can't be excited to meet a legend, even if a younger version of them? With that, she had turned away, moving back to her cabin. "Hey, uh, one last thing, Annabeth. Luke told me you're the only year-round Athena camper. If you ever want company, I'd be more than happy to hang around and study in your cabin. I've got a lot to learn." I offered.
She glanced back and shrugged. "I'd welcome the company. Just don't get in the way." She said coolly, before resuming her walk back to her cabin. I figured I might as well give her some space, so I practiced for around another hour, deciding to just hone my current powers for the time being.
After that hour passed, I went to the Big House to inform Chiron of the obvious, that I'm staying year-round, since it was around eleven in the morning, and there was a deadline of an hour before that time would end, and when lunch would begin. On my way to the Big House, I found Vincent emerging from the showers.
"Hey, Niko. I'm glad I caught you, actually. I'm headed back home for the school year. I'd wanted to wish you luck and safety, since I'd assume you're staying, and I had a couple things I wanted to give you. Wait here." He told me. He dashed back to his cabin, and quickly came lumbering back with a stack of books in his arms.
He dumped them into my arms and grinned. "You'd been studying up on our history, so I figured I'd give you some books on that, and a monster encyclopedia, pretty much. There are a couple other books just for entertainment in there, too. I hope you have fun this year, Niko!" He said.
"Shoot, I've gotta go soon. My grandpa's gonna be waiting." He told me. "Bye! Have a good year! Study hard!" He called as he ran off. I smiled. I could appreciate the books, and his general attitude. I dumped the books discreetly into my inventory, and continued to the Big House.
I knocked on the door, and the door opened to reveal Chiron, in centaur form. "Hey, Chiron. I figured that while it's pretty pointless to tell you, I should anyways, for protocol's sake. I'm going to stay year-round." I told him. He chuckled. "I'll admit, I was surprised to see you here to tell me. I must ask you to come in, however, as we have much to discuss."
I knew it was coming, honestly, so I stepped inside. Chiron poured a glass of tea for the both of us, found his wheelchair, and collapsed into it so we could sit eye-level at the table. "I would like to discuss your story, while Mr. D is not here. I have a few questions, and I would like answers. First of all, your memory. You woke up with no memory, correct?"
I hesitated. I knew Chiron could be trusted, but I felt like someone was watching. "You might make a third drink, Chiron. Someone's watching us." I told him, closing my eyes to try and locate the person intruding with photokinesis. I raised a brow when I found someone invisible, huddled in a ball in the corner, clearly in hopes that they wouldn't be found.
I strode over to the corner, and picked them up, and they shimmered into existence as a Yankees cap fell off their head. "Annabeth?" I asked. Chiron stayed silent, seemingly unsurprised. "Why did you feel the need to intrude?" I asked, after she failed to respond. She huffed.
"Word spreads fast here. People knew your story was weird, and I was hoping I could discover something while you spoke with Chiron." She admitted, frowning. She had apparently realized there wasn't a way out of that, thankfully, though it seemed rather out of character for her, from what I knew. "My child, conversations with me are supposed to remain confidential, especially one such as this. If Niko wishes to share with you, he will in due time. Alright?" Chiron said gently.
The two of them held a staring contest for a moment. It seems Chiron won whatever silent argument they were having, as Annabeth threw an irritated glance at me, and left the building. "I apologize on her behalf. She has always been curious, and I hope you can excuse her for it." He told me.
I nod. "I understand that curiosity, more than most may realize." I started recounting the full story to him. The rift closing, the girl's face, all the way to my arrival with the empousa, but nothing of the future. Chiron was a good listener. He listened with rapt attention, capturing every detail. "Intriguing. I hadn't realized the Labyrinth was still open." He mused. I hesitated. Chiron wasn't supposed to know that yet. Oh well. I could only really hope he won't decide to act on it until canon needs it to.
"But to circle back on your situation, you claim to have had a life in a separate universe, which you have no recollection of?" He asked. I nodded. "You have extra powers matching that of a genre of video game?"
"I do. It has a habit of sassing me or punishing me for complaining." I noted. He seemed to ignore that. "I have never heard of such abilities. If you would not mind documenting as much as you can about these powers, to see if I can find a related ability, that would be excellent." He finished, rising from his wheelchair.
A conch horn was heard, and I stood with him. "That would be lunch. Go, indulge yourself. I shall be along shortly." He told me. I made my way to the pavilion, and slid onto the edge of the bench. Not long after, a couple of handfuls of people sat at their tables. I saw three at the Ares table, one at Demeter, one at Athena, four at Apollo, two at Hephaestus, three at Aphrodite, and nine at Hermes.
Of course, Zeus, Poseidon, Artemis, and Hera had nobody, because Artemis is a virgin goddess, who roams with her Hunters, who occasionally visit. Hera's literally the goddess of marriage, and she's married to Zeus, so no demigods. The Big Three, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, had a pact where they couldn't have kids because of a prophecy, and because their kids were too powerful.
Of course, this isn't true in my original universe, I was certain of that much, but World War II was a consequence of said Big Three kids. Zeus and Poseidon wanted to take the oath, Hades didn't. Would it be a surprise if I told you Hades and his kids were on the losing end of that war?
Thanks, Hades, for Hitler.
Anyways, infodump aside, I glanced around at my table. I was glad to see my sister was still here, and of course Luke was still here. My heart panged a little at the reminder of Luke being here. I could try and save him. But then the prophecy could turn out differently, and while my presence is gonna change things, hopefully it won't change that.
I quickly picked up conversation with Lou Ellen, and it turned to our powers. "What powers did mom grant you?" She asked. I gulped at that. "What?" I clarified. She raised a brow. "You don't know? Mom grants her kids different areas of powers, since she has a ton of domains, and magic is a pretty broad category, with dozens of subcategories." She explained.
I shook my head. "Can we talk about that after lunch? I'd like to keep the subject of powers as far under the radar as possible for now." I answered. That's actually really bad, because to my knowledge, the System unlocks all my powers, but actually developing them can range in difficulty. So I might have everything, and Hecate wouldn't know, and literally any Hecate kids would get jealous, and more bitter.
She gives me a curious look, but agrees. After that, it was our table's turn to dump food for the gods into the brazier, so we got up, and I tossed half of my remaining food in there. "To Hecate, Poseidon, Hestia, and Hermes." I muttered. I turned away before the scent hit my nose, and I sat back at the table.
"I hope Annabeth told you I wanted to see you in the arena after lunch finishes." Luke told me as I sat down. "Oh, yeah. Right. Could I talk briefly with Lou-Ellen before that? I promised to talk with her about powers in private after lunch, and it shouldn't be very long." I asked.
"Sure, just don't take too long, or I might have to batter you up a little more." He laughed, and I paled. Oh gods, he's gonna try training me. It's enough that when campers talk about him, they act like they're obligated to mention he's the best swordsman in three hundred years, but now I'll see it firsthand.
The end of lunch came quickly, and I met with Lou-Ellen outside the arena, away from where people would see us. "Can you keep a secret?" I asked bluntly. "For my brother? Why not?" She responded. "There's some higher power that unlocked a large chunk of, if not all of the powers I could've got, and I can prove it." I told her. She looked surprised, but seemed to believe me.
"Proof?" She asked. I equipped my gauntlet, to her surprise, and summoned a skeletal rat, a sphere of light, and I showed off some of my basic elemental powers. Her jaw dropped. "Holy shit." She laughed in disbelief. "What's that gauntlet?" She added.
"It's a gauntlet mom gifted to some ancient bloodline of wizards, and the last of their line died, buried in the Labyrinth. It supposedly helps focus magic, and it's keyed to me, so I can summon and dispel it at will, which also means people can't steal it, fortunately." I explained.
"But that means the Labyrinth still exists today! Are you kidding me?" She demanded. Shit. I probably should've left that detail out, because they weren't supposed to discover that until around the Titan's Curse, timeline-wise. Chiron already knew, but I didn't want mass panic from it being spread around the camp.
"Yes, but we can't tell people that. It's not the right time for campers to know this yet." I knew I probably would need to explain more later, which meant I'd have to lie straight out of my ass to her, which is unfortunate.
"Anyways, I promised Luke I wouldn't take too long talking with you, and he wanted to help me train, so I'll see you later!" I hastily explained, slipping into the arena to meet Luke. "Hey, Luke." I said, silently electing to leave the sword I got from the Labyrinth in my inventory. It wasn't a great fit for me, anyways, and his first step is probably going to be fitting me for a sword.
"Hey, Niko. Glad you didn't waste much time." He started, looking me up and down. "Let's get you fitted for a practice sword, then I can get the Hephaestus kids to make you one." He led me over to a door that opened to something that smelled suspiciously like a locker room. It was filled with swords, hung up and labeled.
"Right handed, right?" He asked, sifting through the swords, eyeing up for ones he thought were good fits, I think. I made a noise of confirmation, and he passed me a sword. "How does it feel in your hand?" He asked me. "Uhhh, I'm not really sure how to describe it. It feels like an oversized pencil?" I responded hesitantly.
He sighed, but he explained to me what I should be looking for, and how to identify it.
It wasn't long before I found a sword that was right for me, and he demonstrated a few techniques. The one thing I did pick up on, though, was disarming. It feels odd to admit, but I think I'm terrible at sword fighting. I feel like the magical side of things is more my calling.
I told Luke as much, and he gave me some interesting advice. "So mix the two of them. Get crafty with it. Sword fighting and magic don't have to be exclusive, and if you think you might do better with another weapon, then try another weapon. I was testing your limits with a sword, and personally, I thought you did alright." He advised me.
I gave him a smile. "Thanks, Luke. I'm gonna go hang out in Athena cabin and study for a bit, if that's all good with you." I told him. He shrugged. "It's a free day, Niko. Do what you want, just be at the pavilion for dinner, and be at the cabin for curfew." He said, waving me off.
I ran off to the Athena cabin, and peeked in. "Anybody home?" I asked. I faintly recalled Chiron drilling over the rules the night before. I mostly tuned it out, but I did recall that a boy and girl of different descent weren't allowed alone in a cabin together. Nobody answered, so I just snatched another book, and elected to take it to the Big House porch.
It wasn't a very big book, more so a novella than anything else. I did learn, however, that whoever I was before was a very fast reader. I was done in maybe an hour and a half. I plopped the book into my inventory, and opened the monster encyclopedia Vincent gave me. I skimmed through some of it, and decided to invest time in studying the monsters I knew I'd be facing in due time.
When it got to be around five in the evening, I was broken from my reading by a voice. "Wonderful evening, isn't it?" I heard someone muse. I glanced up to see someone unfamiliar, but personally, I thought the two snakes were a dead giveaway.
A middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair, blue eyes, in a jogger's outfit, with elfish features, smile lines, and in his hand was a phone with a glowing blue screen, two snakes coiled around the back, seemingly attached to it. "Lord Hermes." I greeted, closing the book and setting it in my inventory.
I figured there wasn't much of a point in hiding anything from him, honestly. He was one of the few gods who actually paid attention to the camp. He'd figure out sooner or later that I had spatial magic, if he hadn't already. Not to mention the fact that he's usually pretty nice.
"Any particular reason you stopped by?" I prompted, after a moment of silence from him. "I saw your conversation with my aunt earlier. You know what's to come, right?" He asked quietly. Shit, I should've known the conversation wasn't completely secret.
I nod carefully. "You know his fate, then." He said. He didn't phrase it as a question. I think he knew that I knew exactly what he was talking about. "I do, yes." I responded softly. "Is there any way you can save him? Is there any way you can change his fate?" He said, almost inaudibly. His voice was close to cracking, as if he were close to tears.
I honestly was surprised. I knew he cared about Luke. I knew Luke had a shitty childhood, and I knew Hermes knew about Luke's childhood, as well as his fate. But I didn't know it could make him break a facade so quickly. "Lord Hermes, I know it hurts, but his fate can't be changed. I know I can, but it could risk the safety of Olympus, and that's not an option for me. His fate is to die by his own hands, to dispel Kronos." I say, hoping that I could let him down even slightly gently.
"He's an amazing person, he cares for every single person in this camp, and I wish I could change his fate. I will try my best to find some way to save him and keep the timeline safe, but I can't promise you anything." I finished. Hermes collapsed in a chair, his head in his hands. He looked up at me. "Please. You're the only chance I have. Just save him, somehow." He says, this time a little more calmly.
There's a moment of silence, and a Quest pops up.
Quest Added!
Save Luke from what awaits him in the afterlife, and make Hermes happy again!
Rewards: 20 Levels, 50 Drachma, $50,000, and a favor from Hermes!
The rewards didn't matter to me, personally. I already had an idea in mind. It would fuck up canon in so many ways, but I had a plan, although it was only in the baby stages. I couldn't say no, especially after seeing the messenger god so close to broken like this.
I was going to save Luke Castellan, no matter how much the Fates were gonna fuck with me after this.
A/N: I'm not sure I like too much how I wrote Hermes. I feel I wrote him as if he were more human, more emotional, but I'd also argue it's fitting. He cared for May, he cared for Luke, more than most of his other kids, because he knew Luke would go through the most, he knew Luke's end would be tragic, thanks to May.
He would be broken to know he couldn't help somehow, and stop him from causing the potential downfall of Olympus. But with that, we're now skipping forward to the spring of 2006! See y'all there!
