A/N: It feels like this chapter is quite long... Maybe it's because it has so much in it and more dialogue... I dunno. But I hope you like this chapter and also review. Comments mean a lot to me. And probably all writers. They mean that readers actually read and process what they've read and want more. They want more so much they actually go and say it aloud. Don't be shy okay? Critisim is also welcome as long as you don't flame me. Flames are used to let marshmallow suicide in Tantalos' presence. ;)
Chapter 7: In which I hear how my sister is doing
Contacting Luna for the first time since arriving to Camp Half-Blood took longer than I thought it would. Actually I did so on the following day of the successful game of Capture the Flag. I was sitting at the base of Thalia's tree and watching the sunlight stream through the needles. It was still warm despite the snow. It was nice.
I dug my pocket for a prism that I'd bought before leaving for a camp. I didn't fancy Iris Messaging somewhere public where anyone could eavesdrop. Hermes cabin had almost all the time someone in there so it was obviously out. In any case, I didn't want to take any risks of exposure. It was bad enough that in the end the Goddess of Rainbows herself was able to eavesdrop. Not necessarily interested in doing so but the possibility was still there.
I placed the little prism on the snow and turned it in the sunlight until it casted a spectra of colors in front of me. Then I dug out a golden drachma (one of those stolen from Ares) and tossed it into the rainbow.
"Oh goddess, accept my offering." The drachma disappeared so I took it as a sign that I was on the lines now. "Luna Cykes, Yancy Academy."
The image changed. I could see Luna sitting on a bed on her dorm room and reading a book. There was another bed in the room too but it was made and there was no personal items near it. She had the room all for herself. The walls were decorated with posters of amine characters that I didn't recognize and all sorts of Harry Potter stuff was on the shelves between books and across the desk. Papers were everywhere. It was hard to believe that she'd lived in the room only two weeks. Or not. I could actually imagine her working in there and having her own special order for everything in there. I could only smile at the sight.
"Hei, sisko." I greeted her. It was ages since I'd last spoken in Finnish. Luna looked up from her book and grinned widely at me.
"Hei, veli." She greeted back. "About the time you called."
"Yeah… Were you worried?"
She shrugged and closed her book, leaving her finger in the middle to mark where she left off. "Dunno. I knew you'd be just fine but… You can never be too worried, right?" She smiled. "How's the camp life?"
"It's great. I'm at Hermes cabin right now."
"Managed to avoid getting claimed?"
I nodded. "I did… Afterwards I got the impression that Mr. Sunshine will claim me at the end of the summer but will demand an explanation too…"
She hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose he deserves it… With Silas dead and all."
"Yeah… But how about you? How have you settled in Yancy?"
"Oh… no nono…" Luna glared at me. "You tell first. Finish what you started and all, yeah?"
I could tell she didn't want to dive into her own life. At least not yet. So I took a deep breath and began telling since the beginning. I told her about the boars and defeating them. I told about the game of pinochle. Then the tour about the camp and annoying Annabeth. Luna grinned at that.
"I can't wait to knock her down a peg or two." She told me. I grinned back and continued my tale. I told about Hermes cabin and dinnertime. About activities and how I managed to avoid Clarisse's wrath. Then I told about the Capture the Flag which we won.
"How many cabins are they guessing you to?" Luna asked then.
"Hmm… Ares, Apollon, Athene, Afrodite, Hermes or some minor god." I counted with my fingers. "They are pretty much neck to neck except that Athene is losing popularity with how I'm all the time arguing with Annabeth. This causes the scales tipping towards Ares though… But my archery skills are balancing it out. And of course there's those who only see my natural charm and good looks." I made a mock bow, causing my sister laugh.
"You are so full of yourself."
"Aren't all demigods? Inherited from our parents." My smile faltered.
"Clay? Are you okay?" Luna asked me, concerned. "Are you… actually adjusting to being a demigod? To accepting that there's more family for you than just me?"
I shrugged. "I suppose I have to." I muttered. I really wanted to change topics now. "Speaking of being a demigod, I went to the Oracle."
"You did? But people only go there when they have a quest."
"Well, Oracle gives prophecies if it gives. I decided to take a shot if there was one for us."
"One of the scale of the Great Prophecies…"
"Yeah… And there was one." I told her what the prophecy said and watched her pale by each word I said. In the end she was like she'd just been to Underworld and back.
"That is bad, Clay… Really bad…" Luna uttered. I nodded solemnly.
"And the worst part is that we don't know what it means until it comes to hit us in the face."
My sister licked her lips nervously and traced the title of her book with her free hand. I could see she was mulling over the words of the prophecy. Trying to deduce what it meant.
"The Godless and the Archer are obviously us, with you and your skill with bow…"
"Tsuru." I corrected automatically.
"…and me with the Godless stones. Making a stand… I can only guess that it's with us spouting out our opinions." Luna chuckled mirthlessly.
"'Seek guidance of the forgotten ones of their land'…" I quoted the next verse of the prophecy. "'Our land' is most likely Finland. I can't come up with anything else."
"Since it's about 'forgotten ones' and we consider the world we are living in…"
"…It's probably the old Finnish gods that it's about."
"Exactly. Next verse probably warns the gods about interfering with our lives negatively." Luna brushed her blonde locks back with a finger comb. "Especially when it's followed by us being called the saviors of Moon and Sun…"
"No freaking idea how when or why would that happen…" I couldn't help but mutter. Then the image flickered away and a female voice told me to insert a new coin for the next five minutes. So I tossed in a second drachma.
"…and somehow we must be aware of the situation because the consequences may be dire." Luna had continued talking without noticing the connection being cut off for a moment.
"How about champions of Dusk and Dawn?" I decided to ask her.
"Hmm…" My sister frowned and settled her book on her bed before getting up. She reached for a notebook a top of a shelf above her head and plopped down atop of the covers then. I could see the notebook had been originally quite thin but had twice the thickness now after multiple papers had been stuffed between it. "The Goddess of the Dawn should be Eos, the sister of Helios and Selene. According to records she hasn't faded… And the God of Dusk is her husband Astraios. I've got nothing on him though…"
"Neither of us being a pawn is quite obvious though, isn't it? We make our own decision and won't be manipulated by others."
"Definitely not. I don't believe in pre-determined fate. I think everyone has a say in their own lives. Or at least they should have."
"After all Janus exists."
"Yeah… The next verse is a bit obscure but I think it's related to the previous one."
"But the end closing is a bit ominous then. Especially with the separation." I cringed at the thought. What could it be that would separate anything? Was it me and Luna from the rest of the world or from each other?
"And especially when this warns that it would take time for the closure to come." Luna added, not looking up from her notes that she'd started writing on another notebook. One that I hadn't even noticed her to get. "…The rest of this prophecy is a mess. I can't really draw any definite conclusion." She scratched her temple with the lime green pencil she'd used on the notes.
"I suppose we just have to wait…" I sighed. "D'you think this will be fulfilled gradually?"
"Most likely." Luna wrote up last two sentences on the second notebook (this one was emerald green) and tossed it on the side then. "I'm guessing that you want to hear about my schooldays now."
"Oh yes." I grinned, happy to talk about something less serious than prophecies.
"Fine." She huffed and began telling. She told how most of the kids in her class were idiots and lessons were boring. Now she just winged the homework and decided not to study for the exams at all. She mentioned the scrawny kid Grover Underwood on the fifth grade and how the kid (satyr) sometimes flocked to her. She guessed it was because the goat boy could smell me in her.
Eventually she ran out of things to talk about and bid me goodnight. I promised to call her again next week.
"Whacha doin'?"
"I'm writing."
"Whacha writin'?"
"A poem. In Finnish."
"Can I hear?"
"Nope."
"Why not?"
"Just b'cuz."
"That's such an annoying way to say 'because'."
"I know. Now sod off, Clay."
"Love you too, Luna."
Snow was a thick blanket all around the camp. We had had several snowball fights lately. Usually we had three or four teams with our own fortresses. Each time the teams were a bit different, like searching for the optimal combination. It was fun though. Apollo kids (and I) had a brilliant aim while Ares brats threw the biggest and hardest snowballs. It was decreed though that no stones inside the balls or ice were allowed. Chiron had announced that those who broke the rule would get an appropriate punishment. Something worse than losing dessert privileges.
Today had been the super ganging up. Everyone versus Ares and Athena cabins. We won naturally. They didn't stand a chance and I had the immense pleasure of showing snow down Annabeth's jacket. And push Clarisse face first into the snow. The latter took it with a good humor, the former didn't.
I shook snow from my hair as I trekked up the Half-Blood Hill. I slumped down and leaned against the great pine.
"Hello, Thaleia. Great to speak to you again. This day has been fun. We had no lessons. All day we just ran around and did whatever felt like doing. I helped the Stolls and the Hefaistos campers to construct and snowball catapult. It isn't done yet but in the next battle we should have them finished." I sighed contentedly. "Kheiron is organizing a field trip to Olympus. It'll be on the winter solstice. I'm going to sign up now so next year I can stay here. There is only a certain amount of places for us. Probably so the horse-man can control our group better. But I can't wait to see the palace and the rest of the mountain. It'll be so great. One day you'll also get to visit the place. In three years actually."
There wasn't really anything else to tell her right now. I didn't even know if she could hear me. But it felt good to just talk about things. Things that I couldn't tell anyone else…
"Yo, Clay." Luna's voice shook me back to the reality. She was Iris messaging me from her dorm room once again.
"Heya, Luna." I replied with amusement. "You look like you have some good news for me."
The girl grinned brightly. "You betcha! I found a new Godless Stone."
I blinked in surprise. "Really? Where was it?"
"It was amongst the props for school plays. It was attached to this plastic crown for Fairy Queen. I just stumbled over it accidentally when going through what we'd need for Christmas play." Luna explained and sighed in relief then. "Thank heavens that I don't need to go on stage. I managed to slip into the decoration group."
"What stone was it?"
"Persephone's Pathway. It's basically just a teleportation stone. But now I can move wherever I wish to. Even home in the middle of school year."
"Not to mention that Christmas hols are a-coming." I added.
"True. I get to go home anyways. I can continue with my special project there." The expression on my sister's face was a curious one. It was full of excitement, wariness and… tiredness. Like she'd been working something that really excited her but at the same time was a danger of it blowing up on her face.
"Luna. Have you been sleeping properly?"
"Uh…huh?" She'd zoned off for a moment. "Of course I have!"
"Liar."
"Am not!"
"Uh-huh."
"Nuh-uh."
"What are you working with if it's so important?" I asked then, trying to catch her off guard. Didn't work…
"Oh, I'm so not going to tell you." Luna sounded annoying like her physical age. I cringed at it but smiled at her then.
"Why not? Is it a surprise? For me?"
"…Kinda? I'm working on it." Behind her I could see all sorts of diagrams and tons of text strewn about the walls. From the looks of it, she was probably trying to create a magical item with the help of Hecate's Eye.
"Okay then. I can't wait to see it done. Good luck sis."
"Thanks." Luna slashed her hand through the rainbow mist and disconnected the call.
"You what?" I asked with barely calm voice. I couldn't believe what my sister was saying. Not at all. Luna had… She'd seriously been in danger. On two accounts at that! During a single week!
"I found an entrance to Daidalos' Labyrinth and went to explore. Pallas Athene's Clear Thought helped me to navigate there alongside my clearsightedness." Luna blurted out. "The entrance was at the same prop room at the school basement where I found Persephone's Pathway."
"And the other thing?"
"The one where I bumped into Ares while stealing wallets at Time Square?"
"Yes. That one." I glared at the girl on the other side of the call. I felt like throttling her. So annoying and careless she was. If she were a demigod her fatal flaw would probably be impulsiveness. "What the hell were you doing there? Didn't we decide not the steal anything while we are separated? It's too dangerous to go alone."
"I know!" Luna squeaked in alarm. "I know but we need the money. I don't even know when I'll see you next time. And with the teleportation stone I can sneak out so easily."
I sighed. I simply couldn't stay angry at her for extended amount of time. "What happened with Mr. Short-temper then? And how an earth are you still alive?"
"I…" My sister looked away, scratched the back of her head, looked back at me and then sighed in defeat. "Fine…"
And she proceeded in telling what had happened. She had been at time square a bit after school hours, weaving in the crowd and letting Thalassa's abilities take over. What I understood she and Kage were now mere notions at the back of Luna's mind. They weren't exactly needed in this world so they were slowly fading. Other thing that I noticed from Luna's explanation that she had been moving faster than normal human/mortal. Maybe this had something to do with her 'project' she didn't want to talk about…
"…I was just running and letting my instincts make sure I wouldn't run into anything but I guess my concentration broke when one of my earlier victims – like, ten minutes ago – screamed for thief."
"You made the mistake of looking back." I guessed. Luna visibly deflated at that.
"Yeah. And of course I happened to bump into the God of War right then."
"What happened next?"
"I was sent sprawling on the pavement with half a dozen wallets around me. At least I had enough sense back then to cloak myself in the Mist so none of the mortals would spot me."
"But that alerted Ares."
"Yes, it did. I hadn't even managed to gather my bearings when he had yanked me up and dragged away. I was forced to leave all those wallets right there!" Luna gestured wildly in dismay.
"And that's what you are worried about?" And incredulous note found its way to my voice. She gave me a blank stare.
"Of course not. That was for the sake of humor. A comic relief."
"Luna, not now. What happened next? Did he hurt you?"
"Nah… Maybe roughed me up a bit when dragging me away but I didn't exactly resist. I was a bit dazed from my fall after bumping into him. I mean seriously, it was almost like running into a brick wall."
I decided to give up on getting a straight answer without any unnecessary comments.
"Continue."
"When we were out of sight he practically began interrogating me. I guess he connected me to you because of my Mist trick even though it was the Hecate's Eye that did the work…" The girl took a deep breath before continuing. "He somehow managed to aggravate me. I dunno why because then he wouldn't get proper answers out of me but I guess he just wanted to see my reaction. But anyways I snapped."
"Snapped how?"
"I summoned Lady Sky from my ring and slashed at his head. He just wrenched the sword out of my hands and I couldn't even banish it back to the ring."
"And?"
"I tried to get it back… only to end up pinned against the wall by his hand that wasn't holding Lady Sky. He took his moment to examine my sword and didn't really pay attention on me and my struggles for freedom." Cue a dramatic sigh. "But then he just dropped me and told I'd need sword lessons if I thought to survive in this world."
It looked like the tale was finished now. At least she was looking at me expectantly, like waiting for a comment.
"Luna. What happened then?"
She sighed again. "Well, he was more amused than anything else because of my actions. I guess you are the one he is really angry at – before Percy steps into the picture that is. But in the end he took pity on me or something and told me to be at Central Park on Saturday (This happened on Thursday). When I went he flat-out told me he'd teach me fight with a sword. I'm telling you, it was torture."
"I can believe that. I can believe all that except for the part he decided to teach you." I told Luna. But she simply shrugged and grinned 'what-can-I-do' manner. Well, I'd see the results when we'd meet face to face properly. Whenever that'd be.
"Aah… I'm banned from playing Capture the Flag."
I was slumped against the great pine, with my nose buried in my scarf and my hand deep in the pockets of my winter coat. I inhaled the woolly smell before elaborating the statement to Thaleia.
"It's the next three months only though. I cheated in the game. You might ask how one can cheat at Capture the Flag since magical items are involved too… Well, cheating isn't the word I'd use either. Lil' Betty is the one who coined it. We had teams… sort of… lead by Hermes and Apollo cabins. I was this time with cabin eleven even though Athena kids were with them too.
"Anyways I did a little trick. I was one of the people guarding our flag but with the help of some photokinesis (handy skill I seem to have inherited) I managed to create a mirage, or an illusion if you will, of our flag. Then I put it inside my while backpack and went to snatch the other flag too. I created a similar illusion at the other side before going back to the creek and to Kheiron. He noticed me quickly enough but didn't know I had the flags. When he asked me what I was doing I told him I was taking a breather. The game had been going on for half an hour already. It continued for a quarter and then I dispelled the mirages. The whole lot of them was thrown into a chaos. It was amazing to watch.
"Eventually both of the teams stomped to Kheiron who then asked me if I'd done anything. That's when I showed both of the flags. And damn, Betty has a shrill voice. Some campers found it hilarious though. Apparently this hasn't happened ever before. And now there is one more point for me being Hermes' kid or some other mischievous god's. And yeah I got this stupid punishment too. Lost desert privileges too but thankfully I didn't need to give up my spot at the trip to Olympus."
I slowly got up from my spot. I glanced at the space in the trunk against which I had leaned. With time it would probably have an oval intend.
"See ya again, Thaleia… And happy first Advent."
On the second week of December I read something interesting from a newspaper. Apparently a thief named Thalassa had been striking into museums and galleries. Some gemstones were stolen but always returned on the next day. She even sent a notice beforehand. I noted amusedly that Magic Kaito wasn't published in this world. It was a pity really. No one except me would make the reference. Some people did compare her to Mask de Masque from Ace Attorney games (AJ:AA wasn't published yet though!) or Kaitou Saint Tail or Kaitou Jeanne or Kaitou Sinbad… But no Kaitou Kid… I could only sigh.
I looked at my sister's description on the paper. A woman in her early twenties, long dark brown curly hair, a mask covering upper part of her face. The mask looked like the night sky. She was wearing a short cloak with a hood which was dark blue outside with constellations painted on it and light golden on the inside(Like Lamiroir's). She also had longish dress (I noted from the blurry surveillance camera picture that it resembled quite a lot of a chiton) of which light blue color gradually darkened from top to bottom. It also had white sleeves. On her feet she had simple heelless black boots.
All in all it was a functioning combination. I had no doubt she was using the Godless Stones in order to find more. From the list of her targets only one name struck any familiarity to me though. Cloaked Shadow. It was one to make you invisible and blend into shadows. Three guesses who it represented.
I could also bet that Luna (or Thalassa) was using the Labyrinth in order to get into some of those places. Quite handy actually in bypassing the security systems. Not that she didn't have the skill sneaking in anyways.
With a chuckle I folded the newspaper and gave it to Luke who arched an inquisitive eyebrow.
"Something amusing in there?" The son of Hermes asked.
"Nothing special, Atmey." I replied with a smile.
"Atmey?"
"A game character. Detective Luke Atmey. He is a bastard though…" I shrugged.
"What game is it?" Travis asked, leaning across the table. He and Connor were both gamers more or less. At least when they had a chance since we didn't really have any electronic entertainment at the camp. Which was stupid really.
"Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. There're three games this far. The first one, then Justice for All, and finally Trials&Tribulations. I've played them all." I explained. After the prompting of the two brothers and couple of other gamers at the camp (one boy from Athena cabin and two from Apollo), I began telling about the games and the characters with punny names in them. Next to me Luke was reading the newspaper and listening to us with amusement. And on that moment I realized that one of the plans Luna and I laid out wasn't necessary to happen. But it was alright really. I was settling in here.
A/N: And done. :) I dunno when I'll write the next chapter though. I try to concentrate on summer homework. But guess what? Only one week of work left! My summer hols can finally begin properly! Whoot! \o/
Meanwhile, please review. 'kay?
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Explanations/translations:
1. Hei sisko/Hei veli: Finnish for Hey sister/Hey brother.
2. When Luna and Clay speak about gods and other Greek stuff, they use Finnish names for them. Just because I can. And because they are also making it clear to others that they are different.
3. Lamiroir: game character from Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. Also known as Thalassa Gramaye
4. Mask de Masque, Kaitou Jeanne and Sinbad, Kaitou Kid, Kaitou Saint Tail... Phantom thieves the bunch of them. From Ace Attorney Justice for All(if I remember correctly), Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, Magic Kaito and Kaitou Saint Tail respectively.
5. Just thinking... Rachel could navigate in the Labyrinth because she was clearsighted, right? Not because she was the future oracle... Right?
6. Yeah, I changed the name if this fic. I think this is a bit better one...