Chapter 4

I pushed aside a branch and stopped. A troop of half-bloods, six, maybe seven, was grouped around a small campfire. A girl, the girl, Stella, was feeding the flames with dry brush. A small girl of about six years was huddled beside her. She had her arm around her shoulders as the small girl shook with fear or something else I couldn't identify.

A teenage guy, maybe fourteen, was sitting across from her. He was dressed all in black with black hair that flopped into his face. He was staring into the flames. The light illuminated his weary face and tired eyes. He raised his head and looked over at the little girl. "Want a dream Phoebe?"

The girl shook her head and closed her eyes tightly.

"I can make it a good one," he said coaxingly. "You can be whatever you want in it."

Stella seemed to pay little attention to them, but said, "Cimon, I don't think she wants it."

"No, it's okay Stella," the little girl sat up, though didn't shake off Stella's protective arm. She looked at Cimon. "Send me to a happy place Ci," she whispered, "a place where the bad dreams won't find me."

He avoided her piercing eyes black and smiled and, instinctively, I did too. He leaned forward and brushed her forehead gently with his fingertips. Phoebe sighed and snuggled into Stella's embrace. As her breathing slowed, she went limp and a look of peace came across her young face. Stella stroked her brown stringy hair fondly. She looked at the blonde girl beside her. She nodded and a few moments later she returned with a wool blanket. She draped it over the small girl and sighed.

The blonde had a wreath of buttercups around her neck and daisies woven into her hair. Her blue eyes were friendly, but hardened from recent and hard fights. "What are we going to do about her?" she asked. "I know it isn't her fault, but every time…" her voice trailed off and she shrugged helplessly.

Cimon nodded. "I know we could always tie a cloth around her eyes while she's with other demigods and us included I guess, but that doesn't seem right."

An Arabian looking boy of about eight spoke up. He had on a midnight blue turban wound around his head, but dark curls escaped it and fell into his face and sad eyes that looked like they had seen too much already. He had an air of one who did their best to remain cheerful no matter the situation. "I know it's a tad off, but she's a daughter of Phoebus. It has to be done."

Stella sighed. "We'll talk to her about it in the morning. Okay? It has to be her choice as to what happens. We all know that she hates her curse."

The boy checked a watch. He had about eight of them I noticed, four for each arm. "That'll be in about nine hours I predict."

"Zaman," Cimon started, "why don't you just wear one watch at a time?"

Zaman looked shocked. "But Virginia stole them for me!"

Stella looked exasperatedly at a girl with red hair and a sly smile, "I thought we agreed not to-"

"Oh come on Stella," she said exasperatedly. "If I didn't know you were a daughter of Nyx, I'd have thought you were a daughter of Themis."

"Virginia," Stella growled warningly. "Names. Have. Power."

"Hey Kasper," piped up an African American boy of about eleven suddenly. He had dark curly hair and thick glasses that were held together across the bridge of his nose with duct tape. His dark green shirt had an equally dark stain on the sleeve and I realized that it was dried blood.

Kasper looked up. He was a pale boy with reddish brown hair and freckles across his face. His blue eyes held a slightly dazed expression and he was holding an enormous book which he was reading. "Yeah Clark?"

"How many cabins does the camp have now?" he asked bluntly.

"Twenty."

Clark sighed. "That's the same answer you gave last time."

Kasper shrugged. "They only have to build about a hundred more before they'll be done. Anyway, they're only building cabins for minor gods who they deem important enough to earn a place there."

Zaman fiddled with a watch uncomfortably. "At least we have each other."

Cimon snorted. "We're children of gods that have either been forgotten or deemed not important enough. That's supposed to cheer us up?"

"It doesn't matter who our parents are!" Stella's voice was unexpectedly fierce. "We aren't going to let Gaia use that against us. That's what allowed Kronos to almost win the last war; we aren't going to let this happen again."

There was silence. Then, the blonde with the flowers spoke up, "We're going to have to get this place recognized, won't we? Officially, I mean. We need to get the word out that we're here."

"Oh Vi, I just don't know." Stella shook her head. "The Olympians wouldn't distinguish us I don't think. I doubt they'd even protect our boundaries or fund us the way they do the other camp."

Violet heaved a sigh. "That just sucks."

"That's life Vi," Stella muttered bitterly, but I think I was the only one who heard her. She pushed her black and silver hair out of her face and stared unseeingly at the ground.

The silence spiraled for a full minute before I made up my mind to come out and show myself. Before I could stop myself, I rose silently to my full height and walked boldly forward. Heads shot up and several drew daggers at the sound of my footsteps. None of them relaxed when the saw it was just another demigod. On the contrary, their eyes took on a guarded look. Defensiveness radiated from them in waves and I was honestly shocked. My eyes flickered automatically to Stella and I saw that she had set Phoebe gently aside and had risen to face me. She bowed and I returned the gesture.

"Nico di Angelo," he voice was as hard as ice which surprised me, "my knife."

I suddenly remembered the knife she'd given me when she'd first rescued me. I reached my hand into my jacket pocket and suddenly remembered that I hadn't equipped myself with it when I had woken up. Nevertheless, my hand closed on the smooth handle and I pulled it out. The think must have been enchanted like Percy's Riptide or maybe it was there all along, though the former was more likely. The black, wicked blade glinted in the firelight and I had a strong desire to fling it from me into the embers. I tossed it to Stella. She caught it deftly and examined it. After a moment, she nodded and tossed it back. Surprised, I caught it and put it back in my pocket.

"Sit down," she said calmly, indicating a place by the fire next to Zaman. He moved over to make room for me, then he did something that surprised me. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a gold watch on a chain and looked at me intently before fiddling with it slightly. Sighing, he put it away again. Confused, I looked from him to Stella. She offered no explanations though and Zaman wasn't going to give them to me either.

"So…" I tried not to look as uncomfortable as I felt.

"You want answers?" Violet guessed. She was looking at me critically and I got the feeling she had known I had been watching them.

To her I nodded and wondered how best to phrase my first question. I wanted to know about this place and about the demigods and creatures that lived here, but I didn't want to make a bad impression either. Kasper stroked the binding of his book and snapped it shut suddenly. He met my eyes and read my question there the way he read a book. "You want to know about us, yes?"

"Yeah." Now that it was out there I saw no point in denying it. I looked around the circle. "What is this place? Who are you?"

Cimon laughed a laugh without humor. "We are demigods, just like you. The only difference is that your parent is an Olympian."

"There's more though, isn't there?" I asked. "There is a reason why weariness and bitterness lurks around every corner no matter how brave a face you put on it."

Cimon's eyes narrowed underneath his black hair. "Such things aren't for the ears of the likes of you to hear and carry back to your people."

"That's unfair!" I protested. "We didn't do nothin' wrong."

Zaman gave me an unfriendly glance. "You've much time ahead of you, so long as you don't make an unexpected choice at the crossroads; so, trying to kill you now is useless." I opened my mouth but he kept on, ignoring me. "You personally didn't do anything wrong, but like other monsters we take our anger out on the children of the Olympians because the parents are beyond our reach."

I kept an expressionless face, concealing my shock. He sounded so much older than eight. I wondered what hardships he had endured in his short lifetime. None of the younger campers at Camp Half-Blood sounded so old or wise – especially in the face of strife. His dark eyes met mine calmly and I had to look away. "What do you mean by 'like other monsters'?"

Zaman looked grim. "The gods don't like to recognize our existence. My father is Chronos, the Greek god of time. Not the Titan Kronos, but tis a common misconception. The Olympians do not like that there are so many minor demigods around. There are so many that Zeus is quite paranoid about it all. He believes that we're raising our own private army against him."

"You aren't are you?" I cut in sharply.

"Of course not," he sounded offended. "Two years ago, we made a choice that shattered what little trust the Olympians had in us."

My heart skipped a beat. "You didn't – "

"We did. We sided with the Titans, or the majority of us did," Zaman said darkly.

"A lot of us are actually children of Titans," piped up Virginia.

Kasper nodded to her and Zaman went on. "The rest remained neutral and didn't get involved. Most of us survived; your demigods suffered the most losses. We have spent every moment of our lives preparing for a worst case scenario. Without Percy to lead you, you would all have been destroyed." Zaman didn't sound ashamed in the slightest or in the least regretful. It made me sick just to hear the indifference in his voice. He must have noticed the anger in my eyes and the way my muscles were tensing for he smiled wryly. "I don't mean to sound like I don't care… we all do – deeply. We just have learned not to hold on and to let go. It is one of our greatest weaknesses, but our greatest strength."

I looked at Stella, but she avoided my eyes. This was getting worse and worse by the second. "So why am I here?" I asked.

Violet laughed ironically. "Oh don't tell me you haven't thought of a reason!"

Shaking my head so my bangs flopped into my face, I acted dumb. The redhead – Virginia – rolled her eyes expressively. Inwardly, I sighed. Did anything fool them?

"Look son of Hades," Virginia said patiently, "Hades would have had our heads if one of his children died or was killed within the vicinity of our lands. Tis why that as soon as we got wind of your parentage we sent someone to get you out of that hole."

"Woa, hold on!" I sat bolt upright. "How were you able to know who I was?"

Stella looked grim. "That information is confidential Nico. I'm sorry, but we never reveal all our secrets."

I sighed in exasperation. "What about Timothy? The half-blood I was supposed to be escorting to Camp. What about him? Why didn't you save him too?"

"Because he wasn't there to be saved." Stella looked at me dead in the eye, and seeing the sudden gleam in her silver eyes I was frightened, though why I was unsure.

"But-"

"He wasn't there to be saved," she repeated.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I begged. "Come on, stop dropping hints."

She stared into the brightly crackling flames as if lost in thought. Her shadowed eyes looked haunted in the eerie light. At last she said, "Timothy isn't in any danger from Gaia."

"Course he is. He's a demigod. We're all in danger from her as long as she rises." Stella shook her head slowly and rose to her feet almost as slowly. I stood too. "Where's Timothy now?" I demanded. I blocked her as she moved onto the worn trek. "What's so special about him that he wasn't killed or tortured?"

Stella looked at me evenly. "It isn't my place to say Nico. I'm sorry."