Chapter Nine – Same time, same place.

Liz

We took shelter in the strawberry fields, hiding from the six shocked people that we had just conversed with. Part of me hoped that they would follow us, comfort us and tell us that we had misunderstood, and that they would never kick us out. But, what Kat said made complete sense. As soon as they found out who our parents were, they could abandon us. Afterall, why would they keep the future-destroyers of their camp?

Kat sat silently next to her arm now wrapped around her legs, hugging them to her chest. She seemed oddly calm, with what was going on and all. But then again, when was Kat anything but odd? Speaking of Kat, ever since she made her grand entrance on the pool table, we had this sort-of unspoken agreement in which we would protect each other. So that is what I was going to do. I needed to find a way to protect her. The safest place for us was here at Camp Half-Blood, but that wouldn't be the case if they knew are parentage. Whether it was good or bad, it's a fair guess that we'd be in danger anyway.

Our only option was to do whatever it took to conceal our parentage from the camp. Even if it wasn't for long, it could give us the time we needed to come up with a more permanent solution. I turned my head to tell Kat this, but she gave me a look that said; 'I've already figured it out, slow poke.'

"It'll be easy," Kat told me in a somewhat-reassuring, somewhat-crazy voice. "All we need to do is not 'shadow-teleport' or sink through the ground!"

"Basically, we need to suppress our powers, whatever they are." I pointed out, looking down at my lap.

"Exactly!" Kat chirped. Maybe she's trying to stay positive for me, I thought when I looked over at my step-sister. I saw here pick a blade of grass and giggle at it. Or maybe not…

~-~-~-~-~-(this is a time-skip) ~-~-~-~-~-

The group that confronted us about our parents had been avoiding us all day. I guess they didn't know what to say to us. But I knew what I wanted to say to them. I was still furious at the thought that we'd get kicked out if our parents weren't 'satisfactory'. And, as Kat said, that was parent-ist. I wanted to tell them that they should be ashamed for not thinking of all outcomes. I wanted them to know how angry I was. How angry I was at them. How angry I was at the gods and this whole Greek mythology gig… And how angry I was at myself, for believing them, even just for a second.

That was what I wanted to say to them, but it wasn't what I was going to say. I needed them to think I was going to play along, be a happy camper. At least until I'm 'claimed'. That's when all hades will break loose.

I was on my way to the sparring ring when I bumped into Jimmy Stevenson, the Counsellor for the Dionysus cabin. Jimmy had short, slightly ruffled dark brown hair and a mature face. Most of the time, he stood tall and proud, despite is short stature. He wasn't overly short but was quite short for someone who I'm pretty sure was older than me. The top of his head came in line with my eyes, so I only had to look down slightly to see his face. Jimmy was one of the people that voted to save Kat. He was also at the meeting in the forest yesterday. Well, I thought, It's now or never. Jimmy, or Jim as everyone called him, started scuttling past me, his eyes on his feet. I swiftly grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him to tilt his head upwards for his eyes to meet mine. He opened his mouth, probably to make up some excuse for not being able to talk.

"I have something to say." I cut him off, after I was sure he wasn't going anywhere, I released his shoulders. He took a step back and looked a little nervous as I continued, "Me and Kat have come to a decision about the, err, situation. Could you please, uh, get everyone that was there yesterday and meet us in the same place, and around the same time?"

Jim's eyes widened, he probably wasn't expecting us to want to speak to them so soon. I saw him bite his lip, like he wanted to say something else, but whatever it was, it was replaced with a small nod. My lips pressed in a firm line, I went to move around the smaller demigod, in the direction of where I thought Kat would be. I took a step towards the strawberry fields, a place Kat has taken quite a liking to in those past few days, but I was prevented from taking anymore when Jimmy grabbed my arm. I turned around and studied him, Do I want to hear what he has to say?

"…I'm sorry." I heard him mutter quietly, before quickly walking away. I stood there, shocked. His apology seemed sincere, but it didn't sound like he was apologising for yesterday. No… he was apologising for something else, something that was yet to come. He knew something that I didn't, and it scared me.

I shook my head, I'd deal with that thought later. At that moment, I had to find Kat, tell her what happened, and bring her to the forest.

When I found her, she was walking around, balancing a strawberry on her head. I cleared my throat, causing her to turn swiftly, the strawberry already forgotten. Her expression changed from cheerful to slightly worried, she probably saw the look on my face.

"What's wrong, Elizabeth?" She asked, coming up close to me, looking up and down, as if looking for injuries.

I quickly told her what had happened, and where we had to be in about ten minutes. I watched as the ever-bipolar Katja Jade Anastasia Welsh became deadly serious.

"Well, then," My step-sister said with a grim look, "Let's go."