Nico:
Reuniting with my friends once again
The only people I was looking forward to see after the meeting were Annabeth and Percy. They both had enough sensibility not to patronize me just because I was a son of Hades like Thalia did. Speaking of Percy and Annabeth, I caught them when they were walking down to the river with interlocked hands. "Hey Percy, Annabeth, hope I am not interrupting anything but I needed some friends to hang out with," I said.
"Actually Nico, we do have a few minutes to spare but we would like some private time with each other before dinner tonight. So soon as we want you to leave, we will let you know okay?" Annabeth replied. I nodded and shrugged but in the end I agreed to their terms and I truthfully didn't care right then. "Can you tell me what weapons you used in your fight against the demigod son of Kronos named Gabriel?" Annabeth asked.
"I used at least half a dozen souls of WWII soldiers, all of whom were armed to the teeth as well as a U.S.S carrier cannon. Oh and I used some Civil War-era Gatling guns as well a couple cannons from the Revolutionary War. Does that help you understand the demigod's power if that was your goal?" I explained. "That helps but so much artillery and he survived virtually unscathed… such incredible power," Annabeth said.
"It's hard for me to believe as well, but I don't think it has to do with his own power as much as his armor," I said. Percy asked what I meant and I knew I had to elaborate. "There was a legendary suit of armor said to have been worn by Achilles himself and was given to Odysseus when he died. The gods granted him this armor because he had lost his original suit when his cousin Patroclus stole it to lead the Greeks to victory and was killed by Hector," I answered.
When Percy and Annabeth told me to go on, I made sure to do that. "This suit was said to be invincible against any weapon forged by man although Achilles was already invincible with the notable exception of his heel. He destroyed Hector with this armor on but when he was struck down by Paris, Odysseus took the armor after winning a debate with Ajax the Greater. However, the suit was lost at sea during the return trip to Ithaca when Odysseus' men profaned Apollo's sacred herd of cattle by slaughtering some of its members for food.
"Because the armor was lost at sea and Odysseus was forced to return home without it, it was thought that this incredible shell created by the gods was lost to time. But if my suspicion is confirmed, the gods may have had other plans for that suit of armor and may have even modified it for the demigod to use," I finished. I added that I really hoped that I was wrong about my suspicion about the incredible armor's whereabouts. Because I truly hoped that it was still at the bottom of the Aegean Sea in Greece where it had been last seen or had rot away.
"That may be a lead onto how he survived but at the same time, where's a lead on why he is so vengeful toward the Titans. And that's probably the greatest mystery we have on our hands," Percy said. "Not just random Titans, Titans connected to Olympus are on his okay-list. That just narrowed out a whole bunch I could name but there are those who betrayed Zeus three weeks ago like Prometheus along with his brother or Oceanus, one of those Titans," Annabeth agreed.
"But what could they ever have done to a son of their lord and master to turn him against them? The Titans would be needing every single powerful weapon they can get right about now with us emerging victorious," I asked. "Who knows, I will have to look into that as soon as I have the time," Annabeth answered.
I guessed it was time for me to leave the two of them alone and they told me I was correct. It was good that I got to hang out with them for a little while and get some of my thoughts out to at least one of my friends but having two to do that to was awesome. I watched as they sat down under a tree and Percy lied down on it first before Annabeth sat on his lap with her back facing him. The good thing was I was not interested in their romancing so I turned to head to my cabin before I was called to dinner.
I truthfully felt like being alone for a little bit at least but then a Hermes kid called me over. As it turned out the Stoll brothers, who now led the cabin with the treachery and death of Luke, wanted to speak to me about the demigod. Travis wanted to know if the son of Kronos was going to be staying in the Hermes cabin with them. Connor just wanted to know if he would be an easy person to steal from.
"To answer your question Travis, I think he'll be staying in the cabin that honors his present master. As for Connor's question, if he winds up staying in the Hermes cabin I would not count on him being easy to steal from. For one thing he is a son of Kronos and for another, he's been in the service of the gods probably too long to be tricked by a child of Hermes," I answered.
They seemed pretty upset but that didn't matter much to me. When Hermes kids were not protecting the Camp or Olympus from Titan forces, they were pests who always looked for ways to pull off a prank or steal something. That's what I reminded myself about when suddenly, a big horn blew off and everyone was called for Chiron's special announcement. In no time, the demigods of Camp Half-Blood gathered around in the amphitheater to hear what Chiron had to say about anything.
When everyone had their seats (mine a few seats from Percy, Thalia, and Annabeth), the announcements came in. "Demigods of Camp Half-Blood, may I have your attention please?" Chiron asked. Everyone silenced themselves at once since it was more interesting to listen to Chiron then Mr. D, our godly supervisor. "By now, many have heard of the rumors about a demigod son of Kronos," Chiron began.
I gulped because there was a good chance that he would mention my actions. "I shall confirm that these rumors are all true, the demigod exists. Thalia Grace and Nico di Angelo have already seen but a small portion of his power when they fought him two days ago and can tell you more about it. But that is not why I have called all of you Campers here today.
"Today, I would like to welcome someone who needs no introduction from the Artemis Hunters or from the Hades Cabin. I brought you all here to welcome my half-brother, Gabriel Johnson to Camp Half-Blood. His present master is none other than the Olympian goddess Hera so he shall be staying in her Cabin unless he chooses to stay somewhere else. Please welcome my half-brother, Gabriel Ladon Johnson!" Chiron announced.
Gabriel, who turned out to be the golden-armored demigod we had fought, stepped up to the stage and shook Chiron's hand. "Dionysus has already tutored him around Camp Half-Blood so here he is to speak to you today," Chiron said. Gabriel then took Chiron's place at the speaker's spot "Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen of Camp Half-Blood," Gabriel began.
"Hey, I heard you kicked Thalia Grace's butt! The Ares cabin welcomes you to stay and share space with the children of War anytime," Clarisse La Rue of the Ares Cabin shouted. "Thanks, perhaps I will take your offer sometime but anyway, I know I've already met some of you on the wrong end of my swords and would like to publicly apologize. I was on a diplomatic mission however, I made little effort to keep it diplomatic and was chastised for it by Lady Hestia.
"If the Artemis Cabin is willing to accept my apology, will the leader stand up and say so now? And after she has accepted it, will the leader of the Hades Cabin also stand up to accept this apology?" Gabriel asked. Thalia stood up, the light shining on her and said that both Artemis and Zeus forgave his violent actions. Then it was my turn to stand up and I did so quickly.
"Hades forgives your actions against his children. However, I must say that my father was quite furious when he found out I attacked you," I said. Everyone around me had a good laugh from that comment and I stepped down quickly. "Glad to hear we have settled the old score diplomatically and now, I would like to take a moment to answer any and all questions that anyone else may have about me. Please try to refrain from questions like 'Can you sleep in our cabin tonight?' or 'Would like to sleep with us in our cabin?'" Gabriel said in a tone that had the Hermes kids laughing.
That eliminated any questions Drew Beauregard had for him but not any that some of the other cabins had. "Hey Gabriel, can you sing or play an instrument?" Will Solace, the leader of the Apollo Cabin asked. "Well, I was part of my high school choir before I took up service to the gods and was one of the best there but I doubt I'm as good as you guys," Gabriel answered. "How strong would you say you are with just one arm?" Jake Mason from the Hephaestus cabin asked.
"I can throw a full-grown Cyclops over my head off a cliff with just one hand if you mean wrestling. If you mean weight, I could probably life an entire battleship its weight in solid gold with just one hand," Gabriel answered. I probably went pale at that point even though I couldn't see it but murmurs rustled through the crowd, murmurs of exclamation and even fear. "Can you teach us to fight the way you do?" Annabeth asked.
"I can try to teach you but I can absolutely guarantee that even if my skills brought out the best in all of you, it won't make you more powerful than me. You all might have power but I have years of experience and on top of that I have been trained by the gods themselves. That's something you people would kill for here at Camp Half-Blood, believe me," Gabriel answered. "How fast can you run?" Travis Stoll asked.
"If I really needed to risk overexerting myself, I could run faster than light itself. However, I usually prefer to teleport to destinations that would require that kind of speed," Gabriel answered. "Are you good at avoiding having a prank played on you or being stolen from?" Connor Stoll asked. "You have got to be kidding me; if it were survival and you were trying to steal my supplies, you'd be dead before you touched them," Gabriel answered.
The Ares cabin laughed in an uproar of joy and pleasure knowing that little fun fact. I knew that this was probably not the perfect time ask my question but I knew I had no choice. "Gabriel, where in all that is sacred, did you obtain that golden armor?" I asked. There was a sudden silence in the crowd as Gabriel tried to figure out how to answer that one.
"Let me put it this way: when you're in the service of the gods, you can ask anyone of them for a favor related to your task," Gabriel answered. "So you asked Hephaestus to forge that armor for you?" I inquired. "Yeah I did, he was in the mood for forging this since he had a prototype that he couldn't give me," Gabriel calmly replied. So the gods had indeed recovered the armor first granted to Achilles then Odysseus but it could not be used for anything except blueprints!
"Anymore questions before I go off this stage and have to keep you all waiting until dinner to talk to me again?" Gabriel asked. Nobody had any questions left so the announcement had ended as well as the conference with the demigod son of Kronos. I went to my seat at the dining pavilion and hoped that the hearty eating would take my mind off what had transpired.
As fate would have it, I was not the only one with that thought racing through my head as Percy and Thalia each to their place at the Poseidon and Zeus seats respectively. I shouted across to Thalia and asked why she wasn't sitting with her fellow Hunters. "Truthfully, I just need time to myself and I hope the demigod son of Kronos will come to me when if I'm alone," she replied. I nodded, admiring the fact that she would even consider offering our new uncle a seat by her side.
Slowly, the demigods of all cabins trickled in. The noise level increased with the arrival of more and more until at last, all twenty-one tables had occupied seats. Chiron sat at his own separate seat and Mr. D sat with his children at the Dionysus table. Once everyone was in the dining pavilion and had made their offers to their patron god or goddess, we awaited Gabriel's arrival.
We made sure not to keep too quiet so as not to arouse him to the fact that we were waiting to see who he would sit with tonight. Then he came in about two or three minutes later, took what he wanted from the line of food, offered his best piece to the gods, and looked around slowly but surely for a place to sit. He probably guessed that it was normally forbidden for demigods to intermingle with one another at the dining pavilion since he didn't tell us to try to entice him over to their table. Then he surprised by verbally telling us his choice for tonight's session of dinner: "Oh that's right, Annabeth wants to interview me; guess I've decided who I'm gonna sit with."
No doubt, he was agitated by us watching him even after he sat down when he turned around and told us to resume mingling and eating. "Where are we, the Underworld? I've never seen a crowd of so many teenagers so silent since that trip I made to retrieve Cerberus from Asphodel," he added. We all turned to our food and returned to mingling if we had anybody to mingle with but I could just talk to Percy since he was across from me and the tables were sized for just each of us.
"I'm surprised he chose to go with the Athena cabin tonight. Hey, I'm even more surprised to hear him say that Annabeth had to interview him. It's like something out of CNN or Fox News with her," I said. "Well, like any child of Athena, she does have an insatiable appetite to learn everything she can about everything," Percy replied.
I nodded in agreement and asked him if he had the same desire. "In my case, I only learn what I need to learn to get by and at this camp that's a lot," Percy said. I agreed that I was a bit the same way, which came as a surprise to me considering my natural age. But for now, I returned to the business of eating and let Fate play itself out for right now.