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Nico woke up the next morning to the sounds of Percy banging on the door of his cabin, yelling at him to get his ass out of bed.
"What?" Nico pulled the door open angrily. Percy fell landed on his face at Nico's feet, having had all his weight against the door.
Percy looked up from the smooth black marble of Nico's cabin floor. "Get dressed, we're going to Olympus."
"Who is?" Nico asked, trying to push off the fog of sleep. "Me, you, and Annabeth." Nico sighed, he knew too well he had no choice but to go. He stood and grabbed a clean t-shirt, pulling it on as he left his father's cabin.
Nico and Percy walked up to the Big House. Campers moved around them busily. To all appearances it was a seemed like a normal day but Nico saw the groups huddled together talking and looking over their shoulders.
Mr. D, Annabeth, and Kaie stood on the front porch waiting. Mr. D wore a light brown suit with a dark purple tie, a drastic change from his usual garb. Annabeth in dress pants and a dark blue business shirt looked as she always did when she traveled to Olympus in her capacity as the gods' architect. Kaie was a stark contrast to their formal clothing. She wore a dark blue strapless bodice that cut low in the back with black jeans and combat boots. Her hands were still cuffed in front of her and Hephaestus' collar was still around her neck. It seemed Mr. D didn't trust her to not vanish any more than Nico did.
"Hurry up Nick and Peter." Mr. D was scowling at the demigods. The moment they reached the top step of the porch, they vanished.
With a slight pop, the gods' throne room appeared around them. Mr. D materialized on his throne while Kaie stood in the center of the room alone. Percy, Nico, and Annabeth had simply been left at the back by the entrance.
Kaie looked up, the new throne room was a work of art. Simplistic yet elegant. Annabeth had given Olympus the touch of realism it needed.
"Gray Lady." Zeus's deep voice rumbled through the room, the soft murmur of the other gods died to silence as the King of the Gods acknowledged her presence.
"You would have us speak while I am bound as a prisoner Lord Zeus?" Kaie knew her voice was cold, her essence seeping past the college student persona she had modeled herself after in a desperate attempt for normalcy.
"Never." Zeus glanced at Hephaestus who nodded. The metal surrounding Kaie's arms melted away, disappearing into the air. Kaie stood silently, massaging the feeling back into her lower arms. The gods had dragged her up here. They would speak first.
"Why have you risen this time?" Zeus spoke after several minutes of silence.
"Why did you force me here?" Kaie countered smoothly.
Zeus glared. "Why did you run when found?"
"Why was the son of Hades sent to find me?" Zeus paused after Kaie's accusation and turned to look at his brother.
"He was not." Hades replied after a tense moment.
"Then how the hell did he?" Kaie turned and looked at Nico standing by the entrance. "Damn." The word came out softly, almost reverently as realization hit her.
Nico shifted nervously, disliking that the attention of the Gods had turned towards him.
"Nico, how did you find me." Kaie's voice was quiet. Nico shrugged, "I just followed your energy."
"How could you differentiate between mine and the thousands of other people in Chicago?" Nico shrugged again unsure of how to describe something that just came naturally.
Kaie let out a small laugh and turned to Hades. "Your son can sense auras and you didn't know." Nico didn't know what an aura was but Kaie's tone effectively called his father an idiot at so many levels it was ridiculous. Hades looked shocked for a moment before recovering.
"Gray Lady." Zeus once again commanded the attention of the room again after it dissolved into murmurs. The room turned it's attention back to Kaie and Nico relaxed in relief.
"Yes, yes." Kaie flapped a hand at him. Nico wondered if she was crazy or just suicidal to act so flippantly towards the King of the gods.
"To answer your question on why I was born now, I don't know." Zeus glared. Kaie glared back a moment before relenting and continuing. "To ensure what happened..." she fumbled for a word "... last time does not occur again Gaia chained my abilities."
"How?"
"Mist metal imbedded under my skin." She pointed at the design on her arm. "My abilities to manipulate the Mist are almost no existent. She turned her back on the gods and pulled her loose hair to the side, showing them something on her back for a moment. As she turned back to face them again, Nico caught sight of a silver six pointed star filled with intricate knots about two inches across at the center of her back. "She completely blocked my sixth sense. If I had it, I would have been long gone before Nico ever came near me and I would not be here now."
Something in her last sentence cause anger to flare in Zeus' eyes for a moment.
"Can it be removed?" Regal Hera interupted before her husband could speak again, having sensed his rising anger.
Kaie shook her head. "Not by me, I've tried. She fused it to my spinal cord." Kaie paused. "Plus its in a damn inconvenient location." She added as if it was an after thought.
"Could Apollo?" Hera glanced at the patron god of healers who rarely remembered he held that role fact. Kaie considered it for a moment. Then let out a slight hiss as the metal around her arm constricted with a life of its own. "Apparently but it will take time and would be incredibly painful. I would rather not." Zeus stood from his throne and walked towards Kaie. "If I were to order you to?"
Nico watched as Zeus approached Kaie. "If I were to order you to?" Kaie tensed and glared up at the god.
As Nico watched, her eyes changed from a human dark gray to piercing globes holding pure fury, almost identical to Zeus' own. "You forget you are not in a position to do so." Her voice was emotionless and terrifying at an elemental level. "I have not lived for many years. Watch you do not treat me as a demigod Zeus. Never forget what I was created for."
To Nico's shock, Zeus backed down and returned to his throne. The other gods regarded Kaie like a rabid animal in the room no one was sure how to deal with.
Kaie watched as Zeus returned to his throne. She may not be immortal like them. The majority of her powers may be blocked. She may be only twenty but screw them if they thought they could treat her like any other being.
She considered Zeus' request as he watched her warily. "I will." He raised an eyebrow. Kaie glared. "I want answers just as much as you all do considering it is my ass on the line. If Apollo assists me, I will remove the star mark." The King of the gods nodded once to Apollo and he and Kaie vanished. After a moment, several gods vanished while those who remained began to converse quietly.
Kaie felt herself being pulled across Olympus, to materialize in one of Apollo's temple. He appeared behind her. Kaie moved her hair out of the way and felt a hand, to warm to be human, rest over the star.
"This will probably hurt."
"No Duh." Kaie's voice came out as a hiss as her body tensed.
The metal began to burn, fighting the removal and Kaie muffled a cry of pain. She felt it lessen slightly as Apollo hesitated. "Just get it over with." The pain spiked and Kaie heard herself scream before she blacked out as pain and information overloaded her senses.
Please read and review! Next chapter reveals the major threat to the gods and Nico get dragged back in to everything.