Andy returned to the Big House where Chiron asked her to show Robin around camp.
"Where's he staying?" Andy asked.
"He's staying?" Chiron asked, surprised.
"I won't return until I find Oenone," Robin insisted.
"Well, I suppose... Sam's old room," Chiron nodded. "Now Andy, show him around. I... I have to have some time to think."
"Sure thing," Andy said, looking at Chiron curiously. When he gave no further remark, Andy took Robin's hand and dragged him down the steps and towards the Volleyball Courts. Robin followed after her, his satchel of arrows banging against his hip and the quiver bouncing on his back. Andy could tell that he could go faster than her if he wanted to, his long legs easily outpacing her shorter ones, but he instead allowed her to drag him along like a dog on a lead.
He let her lead him all over the camp, politely listening as she showed him the arts and crafts pavilion, the amphitheater, the climbing wall, the mess hall, the arena, and the armory. The only times he looked genuinely interested were when they were in the stables and on the archery range.
"Do you want to shoot a few targets?" Andy asked, seeing his interest as they watched a group from Athena's cabin practice.
"They are a little too near," Robin said, nodding to the targets.
"They're set at fifty paces!" commented one of the Athena campers, Malcolm, having overheard their conversation. Robin shrugged and the other Athena campers gained interest.
"How far can that thing shoot?" one of them asked.
"I've never really tested," Robin said. "It can split a wand to willow at one hundred paces. The name Star-shooter was not bestowed lightly." At once two of the campers ran to pick up one of the targets and move it aside. Another camper went to a tree and used her knife to cut off a long, thin switch.
"What's 'split a wand to willow'?" Andy asked, confused. The camper took the switch and pushed it into the archery range grass so that it stood straight up.
"You'll see!" Malcom grinned. "Go on, new boy!"
Robin smiled and carefully drew one of his arrows; nocking it to his string he lifted his bow and aimed. He calmly inhaled, then released the arrow with his exhale. It flew off with an angry buzz. The arrow sang towards the switch, cutting right through its center and cleaving it in half. The Athena cabin cheered and patted Robin on the back. When one offered to go retrieve the arrow, Robin shook his head and said to leave it.
"That is splitting a wand to willow," Malcom told Andy.
"What is over there?" Robin asked, nodding towards the forest.
"The woods," Malcolm said. "Never go in alone and never go unarmed. There are monsters that live in there."
"I thought monsters weren't allowed in camp," Robin said.
"No... but we keep the forest stocked," Malcolm said. "You know how it is." Clearly Robin did not know how it was, but he was spared asking when a great rending sound filled the camp. Everyone turned around and looked upwards; a chariot, bucking wildly and looking like it had been struck by lightning, hung in the sky for a moment. The winged horses pulling it were straining in their harnesses, whinnying desperately; but with an almighty crash the wheels of the chariot fell off and the chariot began to follow.
"It looks like its headed for the lake!" someone shouted, and suddenly they were all running for the lake.
Andy and Robin arrived just in time to see a boy with sopping blonde hair and a torn purple shirt getting pulled out of the lake. Another boy, dark-haired and small, was being carried up forcibly by Butch. The son of Iris dumped his burden on the ground and headed back into the water towards the pegasi, which were still tangled in their harnesses. Without a word, Robin handed Andy Star-shooter, his quiver, and satchel. He waded in after Butch and pulled out his hunting knife to help cut the pegasi loose from the leather straps. Robin whispered softly to the winged horses, who calmed noticeably and began to nuzzle him worriedly.
"Thanks man," Butch told Robin, leading one of the pegasi away. Robin grabbed the mane of the other one and followed.
"Does this happen everyday?" he asked. Butch looked at him like he was crazy and Robin shrugged. Someone else ran up and took the pegasus from Robin, cast the boy himself a curious look, and left with Butch. Robin found his way back to Andy and retrieved his belongings.
By now a girl had joined the two new boys: she had choppy brown hair and eyes that changed color whenever you looked at them.
"What is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?" the blonde boy was asking.
"Jason," Annabeth said, "I promise we'll answer your questions. And Drew - " Andy totally had not noticed when the Aphrodite counselor had gotten there. She felt her stomach drop a few inches and reached out a protective arm for Robin. No way was some trumped-up, made-up daughter of the love goddess going to steal Robin... Robin wasn't there.
Andy missed the next few bits of the conversation as she looked around, trying to locate Robin. She finally saw him kneeling on the bank of the lake, leaning over the water. Some of the naiads had come to the surface and were looking up at him. He was speaking to them, gesturing to himself, then pointing back at where the river met the lake. Whatever he wanted he didn't get, because the nymphs shook their green hair and sank back into the lake. Robin stood up, looking both disappointed and relieved.
Andy went to him and punched his arm. "Can you stay still for like, five seconds?" she demanded, exasperated. "One minute you're there and the next you're gone."
"They haven't seen her," Robin said gloomily.
"Oh," Andy said lamely. She had almost forgotten the real reason Robin had come to Camp Half-Blood: his real girlfriend.
Suddenly Robin looked up at something behind Andy. She turned and saw the Latino boy had been claimed: a fiery hammer was hung over his head.
"Does this happen everyday?" Robin asked. Andy sighed and punched his arm again.
"No, silly," she said. "This only happens when new campers come."
"Then why aren't they lighting up?" Robin asked pointing at Jason and the girl.
"I don't know," Andy frowned. "But that's definitely going to be an issue." The claimed boy was jumping up and down, trying to dislodge the holographic image above his head.
"Leo, you've just been claimed - " Annabeth said calmly, like she was trying to soothe the boy.
" - By a god," Jason interrupted. "That's the symbol of Vulcan, isn't it?" Everyone turned to stare at him, even Robin. But Robin's glance was sharper and his eyes sadder.
After a while, Leo was escorted away by Will and Annabeth sent Jason with Drew to see Chiron. The daughter of Athena took charge of the girl, whose name was Piper, and the rest of the campers dispersed.
Andy turned back and saw that Robin was gone, again! Seriously, she was starting to get a little ticked off. But when Andy caught sight of the boy leaning under a tree at the edge of the woods, she couldn't help but feel terrible.
Robin looked so sad, it was amazing that he wasn't crying. A few birds sat in the trees above him, but they did not sing or do any more than flutter their wings. A mourning dove must have been among them, for she cooed consolingly.
"Robin?" Andy asked. "What's wrong?" He looked up at her and in that instant, Andy knew she should have left him alone.
"Andromache," Robin said so softly it may have just been for his ears alone. "Such a sad name." With that he stood and, leaving the satchel of arrows on the ground, went into the woods. The birds took wing and followed him. Andy stood rooted to the ground.
Robin finally returned at dinnertime after everyone had already taken their seats. Andy had taken his satchel of arrows up to the Big House and left it on Sam's bed. Leo had settled down among his Hephaestus cabinmates and Jason was sitting with the Athena cabin. Andy saw Robin appear in the shadows outside the pavilion only because she had been looking for him. He hung there for a moment, indecisive.
Andy sat at Cabin Thirteen's table by herself. Nico was gone, he nearly always was, and that left her alone. She stood up, hardly noticing how people stared, and marched over to Robin. Taking his hand, she led him back to her table and made him sit down. Andy blushed to hear the Aphrodite girls giggling, but she had made up her mind. She was giving up hope on Robin. Instead, she was going to help him find Oenone.
Robin didn't ask questions when it was their turn to scrape the best bits of their food into the bronze braziers. Instead, he threw in an entire leg of friend chicken, then raised his hands in the same invocation posture he had used when asking for inspiration.
His lips moved, but Andy couldn't hear a word he was saying. When he was finished, the flames burned just a little higher and just a little brighter.
"I found the creek," Robin told Andy as they moved back to her table. She looked at him sharply, but he shook his head.
"You don't want the nymphs in the lake or in the creek to know where she is," Andy realized.
"No, and yes," he said enigmatically. "You see, I wish someone would be able to point me in the right direction. I feel like I have even less information than Aeneas, who was told to find the land of his father's. I have been told nothing. But at the same time... tell me, have you ever read the story of Oenone?"
Andy shook her head and took a small sip of her Sprite. Robin sighed, his hazel eyes downcast as he toyed with the fries on his plate.
"It is said by the poets," he began. Andy felt a chill run up her spine. When she was younger, her father had tried taking her to Church once or twice. The way Robin said "it is said by the poets" reminded Andy irresistibly of the phrase "in accordance with the Scripture". His poets were his religion, far more than any Greek or Christian god. "That when a water nymph, any water nymph, drowns herself she not only ceases to live, it was as though she was never born. So no, I secretly hope that no body of water has seen Oenone."
"Perhaps you have heard of Juturna, or Ophelia," Robin said. "They followed this path."
"Robin, I'm so sorry," Andy said. "I really hope you find her."
"Blow O wind to where my loved one is. I'll feel her gentle touch through you and meet her beauty in the moon. These things are much for the one who loves. One can live by them alone that she and I breathe the same air and that the Earth we tread is one," Robin recited softly, toying absent-mindedly with with food on his plate.
"Is that from the Iliad?" Andy asked.
"No, the Ramayana, another epic poem as great in beauty and deeds as any written by a Greek," Robin said.
"Robin," Andy said, taking a deep breath. "I think you should talk to Rachel. She's the Oracle of Delphi and... she might be able to give you that hint you need." Robin turned wondering eyes at the red-haired girl who was seated at the head table. She looked back at him and winked. Andy had already talked to her.
"Right, it's time for the sing-along," Chiron announced. Everyone got up and started for the amphitheater, but Annabeth made a bee line for Robin and Andy.
"Hi, I'm Annabeth, counselor of the Athena Cabin," she said, shaking hands with Robin.
"Robin, son of Calliope," he said formally.
"Listen, I know this is kind of - well, actually totally - forward of me, but wouldn't that make your grandmother Mnemosyne, titaness of memory?"
"Yes," Robin looked surprised. "You have read the Theogony!"
"Yeah, well, there's this new camper, Jason, and he's lost all his memory," Annabeth said.
"Ah, I'm not sure there is much I can do, but I shall try," Robin said. "What can you tell me?"
"We've already had Clovis from the Hypnos cabin take a look," Annabeth said, leading the way back to her table. The blonde boy, Jason was still sitting there, fiddling with a fork. "He says it's not Lethe. He says Hera took his memories."
"Why would she do that?" Andy asked. Annabeth shrugged as they came to a stop by Jason.
"Jason, this is Robin," Annabeth said. "He might be able to help you, okay?"
Jason looked a little nervous, but he allowed Robin to lay his hands upon his head. Robin closed his eyes and breathed deeply.
They remained like that for a minute, Annabeth looking tense like she expected something bad to happen. But Robin just opened his eyes.
For a second, Andy saw the reflection of water in his eyes, and then fire, then they settled to a deep, dark brown. But when he blinked, they were ordinary hazel.
"Clovis is right," he said quietly. "The memories were taken by Juno."
"Who?" Andy asked.
"The Roman name for Hera," Annabeth explained. "Did you see anything?" she asked Robin. He looked at her hesitatingly.
"Only a little," he said.
Robin was a terrible liar. He caught Andy's eye and shook his head.
"Come on, Jason, we're going to miss the s'mores!" Andy said, pulling Jason to his feet and walking down to the amphitheater with him. As she did, she looked back and saw Robin and Annabeth in earnest conversation.
A/N: Footnotes:
Aeneas: he left Troy with only the directions to go West and to seek a land of his fathers. Apparently he had hundreds of ancestors and he spent a long time wandering around the Mediterranean looking for the right land.
Juturna: sister of Turnus, a water nymph who drowned herself upon her brother's death
Ophelia: a Shakespeare reference to the young lover of Hamlet, who went mad and killed herself by drowning
The Ramayana: a Hindu epic poem, traditionally ascribed to Valmiki and dating approximately to the 4th or 5th century B.C.
Mnemosyne: according to Hesiod, she is the mother of the muses and the Titaness of Memory. Lethe, the River of Forgetfulness, is at once the equal and the opposite of Mnemosyne. The Lethe is said to wipe the minds clean of any soul who wished to be reincarnated into a different life. Mnemosyne preserves memory. Those who wish to consult her as an oracle must drink first of the Lethe, then of the river which shares her name.
Water, fire, brown: the images which flash in Robin's eyes are those an initiate of Mnemosyne might see. Water for the river, fire for the torches (which shed light and truth upon the oracle), brown for the color of the Titaness's eyes.