Chapter 11 ~ Lysandra
Lysandra jogged in stony silence alongside Vytoni, who was talking quietly to Elektra and Adrian, who was lagging behind because of he was carrying the girl they just rescued. Adrian was caught sight of Trudy, smiled and tried to wave but stumbled, almost dropping the girl.
Trudy rushed over, her eyes full of concern and astonishment, crying out, "Holy Hephaestus! Who is that?!"
~*~ 3 hours ago ~*~
The four godlings chosen for this mini-quest were sprinting towards the woods. Lysandra was trying to pinpoint the girl's location with Vytoni, who was looking for signs of a fight. Elektra tried a more logical approach, listening out for the sea, while Adrian just tried to recall his surroundings in the dream, looking for a match to their scenery.
"Hair," Lysandra noted the strands of light brown hair in the nettle patches. Vytoni reported scratch marks on some tree barks. Adrian looked at the hair strands and confirmed that it was hair from the girl in his dream.
"Some part of a fabric" Elektra commented, reaching out for a cloth on the tree bunk. "It's dark coloured, kind of hard to spot."
"Yep. She was wearing navy pants," Adrian said, "She must still be here, somewhere around a few metres, maybe."
Lysandra noticed the soft, damp footprints of the monster trekking in the mud. It was still fresh, which meant the girl must be close.
"I hear the sea - which means we're near a cliff to a beach," Vytoni looked towards a parting in a clump of trees, "We're here." She looked at Adrian for confirmation, and he nodded, his face pale and taut with worry.
Lysandra ran ahead, looking for signs of activity from humans. They reached an edge of the cliff, looking for the poor victim. I wonder what's her story?
"Wait, I think I see something!" Adrian sprinted across the grassy ground, heading for a small silhouette far away, with Lysandra and the others following anxiously. They reached a mangled body, her long wavy hair covering her deathly pale face. Elektra dropped down onto the floor next to her, and immediately fed her some nectar and ambrosia. She stirred slowly, but didn't wake. The girl had groaned- but, other than that, silent. No sign of life. Lysandra cautiously, recognition slowly dawning on her. Slowly, she brushed the honey-blonde strands of hair away from her face. She remembered her, but she couldn't seem to put her face to her name.
"I know her!" Lysandra exclaimed. "She's- I'm not sure I remember..." I know her - I really do! I just don't know...
"Holy Hephaestus! Who is that?!"
Lysandra hurried through the small bunch of godlings with Adrian and the others.
"She needs treatment," Elektra demanded, "Now!"
The cluster of demigods parted for them, towards the medical bay. They rushed the unconscious girl to the end of the medical bay, where Adrian laid her down on a free gurney.
"Someone, get Chiron," Trudy panicked. Vytoni disappeared from view, and wove through the crowd to fetch the centaur. Lysandra fed her a little more nectar and Ambrosia. Elektra took aid to the girl's open flesh in her calf, swathing it in gauze and bandages. Trudy was busy tidying up the girl's hair.
"What are you doing?" Adrian asked.
"Her hair's a mess!"
"Well, that's the least of our problems - she's unconscious," He turned back to the girl.
Trudy nodded and went back to get more nectar. Rosamynd and Enryx went with her, whispering among themselves. Soon, Lysandra and Adrian were they only ones left.
Lysandra stared at her, trying to recollect her memories and tried to match her face with her name. Painstakingly slowly, the girl mumbled and came to, blink blearily. Lysandra nudged Adrian, who was drifting off and they looked at the girl, who was rubbing her eyes and frowning at the mirror at her bedside. She instantly reached for her weapon that was hanging from her belt - which of course, wasn't there.
"Who are you?" She said weakly, eyeing the two godlings. She paused at Lysandra, then looked back at Adrian, "Where am I?"
"You're at Camp Half Blood," Adrian said softly, so he wouldn't startle the girl, "You're safe now."
"Camp Half-Blood? What am I doing here? I'm not a demigod"
"You aren't?" Adrian frowned confused, and nudged Lysandra. She seemed fazed out by everything. Suddenly she snapped her fingers in front of her face.
"Katherine?" Lys asked, unsure.
"Who?"
"Katerina! Of course, it's Kat." Lysandra mused out loud, a happy smile breaking out of her face.
"Huh? Th-that's me," The girl said in utter confusement. "How do you know me?"
"Kat, it's me- Lysandra!" Saying that last word made Katerina's eyes shine bright with bewilderment.
"Lysandra?" Katerina said and went quiet for a while, trying to remember. "Lys, for real?"
Adrian looked back and forth, completely left in the dark of what's going on between the two girls.
"I haven't seen you in, like forever!" Lysandra strangled Katerina with an enthusiastic hug, which made Katerina wince.
"Yeah, I barely remember you!" Katerina groaned, "My leg!"
"Sorry!" Lys apologized, stepping back away from the gurney.
"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" Adrian's befuddled mind was trying to comprehend the conversation around them.
"Well, we're sisters - full sisters this time!" Lys explained, beaming at Kat.
"Yeah, I guess we are."
"What? You are? Hecate has seriously got to stop breeding!" Enryx came up behind them, quickly followed by the other godlings and Kyle, who had disappeared to fix his bruise but came back.
Lysandra introduced Katerina to the others, and they all exchanged hellos, excitedly crowding around Lysandra's sister.
"So Kat," Elektra questioned, "If you are Lysandra's sister, then why didn't you go to camp with her?"
Katerina smiled and replied, "Well I grew up with Hades and Persephone, his wife. She taught me everything I needed to know about life and the afterlife."
"And, uh, Hades' my father," Lysandra said, earning surprised glances from the others, "But I grew up with Hecate instead, while Katerina grew up with Hades."
"Woah, what? Since when was Hades your father?" Enryx stared at her, making the tips of Lys' ears go red.
"Shut your mouth, Roman!" Rosamynd frowned at him. Instantly, everyone started talking, the chatter growing even louder.
"Basically both of your parents are Hecate and Hades, but Lysandra is closer to Hecate, and Katerina is closer to Hades, right?" Trudy asked.
"Yes, I think" Kat answered.
"Sorry about your leg, by the way," Elektra said.
"Meh," She shrugged. "It wasn't your fault."
"Right."
"So anyways, I was treated as Hades's little princess." She continued her story , "Which I loved until recently. He's always been overprotective, too overprotective. You might not expect that from a guy like Hades but he does have emotions."
Katerina paused as some people sat down near her.
"Oh - and I can blend into my surroundings - I took after my father, since he's got the power of invisibility, and being daughter of Hecate kind of helped too. I'm not that great at it and I have to concentrate really hard. So playing hide and seek was never really an interesting game for me," Katerina said, shifting uncomfortably.
"Wait, what? You can basically turn invisible?" Adrian asked curiously. Kat nodded, then shrugged.
"More or less."
"Yeah, you can say that. Anyways, when I turned ten, my father realized I had the ability to talk to the spirits, I helped him handling the ghosts - to keep them in line and stuff," Katerina took a breath to continue. Just then, Chiron and Vytoni rushed into the medical bay, Chiron's face lined with concern and Vytoni's eyes dark with worry.
"How is she?" Chiron asked Lysandra, who was giving Katerina a sip of nectar. The injured godling sat up, pushing the drink away from her.
"I'm fine," Katerina murmured, her cracked voiced barely a whisper. Chiron tutted while Lysandra gently pushed her back down and gave her the nectar again. Kat took it, taking tiny sips and trying to look like she hasn't been run over by a truck even though she felt as if she did.
They were interrupted by loud cheers that were suddenly arising from the demigods around them. They parted again, this time with four campers triumphantly running towards Chiron.
"Greetings, sir," A boy maybe a little older than Lys spoke, his eyes lively and pumping with adrenaline, "The mission has been successful. The demigods returned safely -well, safe enough- and we, well they have completed the quest."
"Thank you," The centaur smiled warmly at them, then turned to the group of godlings, "This is Nethrys Blackthorn. He's the son of Enyo and Momis. He is a godling, just like you."
He had spiky black hair, and green eyes, and he was about 5"6, or 5"7. Lysandra started to give him a welcoming smile and go over to introduce herself when a little voice in her head spoke, making her blood freeze and her head to start spinning.
You, Rosamynd, Adrian, Enryx, Elektra, Trudy, Vytoni, Katerina and Nethrys. There are nine godlings - and you know what this means.
The quest has begun.
Mentally, Lysandra told that little voice to shut and go back to where it came from, but it was no use - that thought couldn't be unthought-of. Suddenly, Lysandra realized that most of these godlings don't even know about the prophecy. She looked towards Chiron, hoping for some insight from the wise centaur, and saw him looking at her, his expression grave and serious. He knows.
She hastily shook herself and stood up, moving towards Nethrys. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Vytoni hasn't moved from where she sat down earlier.
Frowning, Lysandra walked over to her half sister, "Aren't you goanna say hi?"
Vytoni looked at her, then at the new-old godling, "Sure."
They went up to Nethrys, who greeted them with a friendly smile, "Hey there."
"Hi!" He replied, looking away, unsure of what to say.
"I'm Lysandra, and this is Vytoni, my half sister and other there," Lysandra nodded at Kat in the bed, looking through some mortal magazines. "That's my full sister, Katerina. We are all daughters of Hecate."
"Man, Hecate has got to stop... you know," He cheeks were tinted slightly pink, but other than that he seemed unfazed, basking in his recent victory. Poor guy. He just returned from a quest, and now he has to go on another one. But he doesn't know yet.
"Well, maybe you should watch your mouth," Vytoni sneered, "Because even though the Hermes cabin is known for their pranks, I have my own bag of magic tricks - and believe me, they are ten times worse."
Nethrys raised his eyebrows, and countered with an equally snarky manner, "Well, at least the Hermes cabin isn't the most occupied anymore."
"Hey!" Lysandra frowned, stepping in between the quarrellers, "Firstly, do not
insult Hecate -if you know what's best for you- and secondly, we don't need to start off at the wrong foot, okay?"
"Yeah."
"Whatever."
Vytoni stepped away and turned back to talk to Kat again. Nethrys frowned at her and backed away from the godlings as well, rolling his eyes as he turned to accept his congratulations from the demigods surrounding him. Lysandra watched them go, wondering who she should tell decided to talk to Nethrys first, but as she approached him, he was leaving the medical bay, surrounded by demigods and basically fitting in. I wonder how long Nethrys was there until they finally accepted him?
Lysandra shook her head, turning away and heading back to Vyt and Kat. They were talking quietly, their eyes shifting around the room. Adrian strolled back over to them with his hand around Trudy's waist, joining their deep conversation. Good - I can tell those three and Adrian can help. Lys went over to Kat's bed and stood beside it.
"Can someone pass me a mirror?" Kat asked. Trudy quickly brought a compact mirror out of her pocket. Kat took one in the mirror and grimaced. "My hair's a mess!"
Trudy nudged Adrian and gave him the I-told-you-so look and helped fix Kat's hair.
"Kat, uh, how's your leg?" Lysandra started a conversation, attempting to make small talk.
Katerina shrugged, flipping through her magazine, "It's alright,"
Elektra reported, "It'll be much better in a few days."
"Really? Whoopee," She replied, sarcastically, her eyebrows raising.
"Hey- we've been doing the best we could. No need to get snappy," Elektra replied hastily.
"Oh my gods, guys! Why do we keep fighting?" Lysandra asked. "Can you all just listen to something- something very important." She looked at Chiron for support, and he nodded.
She took a deep breath, and began. "There was this new prophecy that was read out a few days ago- by Rachel Elizabeth Dare - you know, the oracle?
"She's the girl with an explosion of red hair, and wears a lot of weird clothes, like the other day she was wearing these pants with purple and red and-" Trudy started blabbering.
"Ahem!" Chiron cleared his throat, his expression clearly saying 'get back on track'. Trudy quickly piped down, looking at her feet.
"Right, right! So the prophecy was about nine godlings going on a quest, and-" She paused to look at the worried faces of not just Trudy, Katerina, and Vytoni, but also of Chiron and Adrian.
"Hey, what's going on?" Asked Enryx, walking side by side with Elektra, as theytoo joined the conversation.
"Just listen," Lysandra spoke, her stomach churning with each passing second, "And the nine godlings- well they have to be you, Enryx; Elektra; Vytoni; Katerina; Trudy; Adrian and me." She said, turning to each scared, worried godlings with the same look of horror on their face as she said their names.
"But, that's only eight," Katerina said, "Only eight godlings."
"Oh! I almost forgot to mention Neth-" Lysandra said, to be cut off by Vytoni's groan.
"Wait- Nethrys has to come on the questwith us?"
"Wait, I never agreed to come!" Kat added, "My stupid leg is still injured!"
"One at a time!" Lysandra rubbed her aching temples, "Firstly, the nine of us are the only godlings in this camp, so not going is sort out of question," She shot Katerina an apologetic glance, then turned to Vytoni.
"And secondly, we must learn to cooperate -no matter how disrespectful he can be." She gave Vytoni a hard look, and the godling just shrugged, her frown never leaving her face. That's all I can ask for, I guess. Why do I get the feeling that I have a huge peacemaker role ahead of me?
"Wow," Katerina looked around her, "I never realized this earlier, but why are there so many injured campers here? Was there a fight or something?"
Enryx shrugged sulkily, "Yeah - capture the flag."
"And we won," Rosamynd gloated, coming in to join the conversation.
"What were the teams?" Vytoni asked, looking around her for the expressions on the winning and losing teams, trying to recognize some faces.
Enryx told them which cabin was in what teams. When he finished, Lysandra smiled sympathetically and patted his shoulder, "If this makes you feel any better, if Vyt and I were there, Blue team would definitely have won."
"Nuh - uh," Adrian countered, slipping an arm around Trudy's shoulders, "I would have been there, so we might just win anyways."
"Hey," Katerina frowned, narrowing her eyes, "Cabin 13 is Hades, right? So that means if I wasn't injured, Blue team would win."
They kept on arguing for gods know how long, and Lysandra quietly slipped away, looking for the only godling who didn't know about the prophecy yet. She spotted him at the mess hall, eating lunch with a few other people. Well, now's probably the best time - this is probably the non-busiest time he has.
"Nethrys," Lys called out to him. He turned around in surprise, his face hardening when he noticed Lysandra.
"What? I haven't got time for you guys," He said, scowling.
"Listen, Nethrys," She said, more steadily this time, nearing him, "The thing is- there's a new prophecy, an-and, well, you're in it."
~END OF CHAPTER 11~