Chapter five already, that goes fast! I won't bother you all, or try to, with a vey looooong disclaimer. However, like always ( I just can't shut up, sorry), I do have a few things to say. Vanessa Masters; interesting, what you wrote about Hecate and the other Lamia, I might need that later on.. But not for now, because Lamia won't meet herself at this moment( wow, that sounds really strange!) and I first want her to meet Zeus. And Hera. What is she going to do? Personally, I would neuter him so he won't bother anymore innocent children. Mmm, or use a spell to make him ugly. Or turn him into the pig he is haha. And attack Hera for being such a bitch. I mean, come on? Your man cheats on you and you punish to woman who has been seduced? That is so unfair! And- I will stop myself before I go on a rant how it's Zeus fault and he is a stupid man ( I'm a bit of a feminist). Ok, after this loooooooong disclaimer (sorry! Bad habit, I will try to stop it); I do not own Percy Jackson& the Olympians. Or the Wardstone Chronicles. Or Greek mythology. Well, I own basically nothing. Enjoy! (en review).
Cato's reaction was more than satisfying. His mouth dropped open, his eyes went wide and he even took a few steps back. " L-lamia? You are the Lamia"? he stammered, looking at her he anticipated her to attack him. Lamia smiled at the thought. She couldn't even remember the last time she had attacked someone. She didn't hurt people anymore. Well, innocent people that is. She would have to trouble with killing the fiend. Or Wurmalde. Except she was already dead. So she couldn't attack her anymore. There were other people she wouldn't mind attacking though. Like Hera... Lamia narrowed her eyes when she realized something. If Zeus still existed, Hera existed too. Hate clouding her sight for a moment, Lamia thought about it. About Hera. That bitch killed my children.. Lamia thought.
She saw Caton swallow nervously, his body tense. He wasn't he only one who reacted to her news like this. The other children looked nervous too. Some even grabbed a sword or knife, Lamia noticed. Annabeth was the only person who wasn't acting really nervous. Or scared. She just sent Lamia a questioning look. " Are you okay"? she mouthed. Lamia nodded.
She took a deep breath, trying to relax. Trying to stop her sudden feelings of hate. She suddenly noticed she had her fists clenched, her own nails burried into her skin. Lamia blinked and, slowly, opened her hands. She had been so mad and, even when she was ashamed to admit it, bloodthirsty, she had started to change form. Her nails were sharper, more like talons. She felt her eyes had changed too. She could see everything clearer. And her other senses had increased too. She could hear the rapid beating of the hearts of the teenagers around her. Could smell their sweet blood flowing. Lamia didn't drink blood anymore, but she still liked the smell.
She inhaled deeply, more to calm herself than to smell the blood even better, and felt herself going back to took a lot of effort, but she managed to calm down and change back to normal. She smiled, reassuringly, she hoped. She raised her hands, to indicate she wasn't going to hurt anybody. Slowly, she saw everyone relax. The people who had unsheathed their swords , and knives, released their grip on the weapons and sheathed them again.
Lamia sighed, a sigh of relief. She really didn't want to fight these children. If she had to, she would defend herself. But she could never truly hurt them. The only times she had hurt a child, was when she had been crazy. And Lamia never wanted to hurt a person, an innocent, person again. She had changed and refused to do something like that. She might have been a monster, she couldn't deny that after all she done, but she wouldn't hurt those children. They were innocent.
She smiled at Cato, seeing he was still close. " Sorry for that. I have been a bit.. tense lately. Everyone all right"? When everyone slowly nodded, like robots ( or really scared children), she smiled again. She tried to look less threatening. Now, she didn't had that crazy look she was sure she had a few moments before, it was easier.
She coughed, feeling akward. " Right. Ehhm, like I already said, I am Lamia and-". " You can't be her"! Cato suddenly exclaimed, his face brightening for a second. He motioned to her legs and up. " You don't look like her! You are supposed to be a monster"! Lamia flinched at the word monster, but Cato didn't seem to notice. He just went on, making wild gestures while he talked. " If you were Lamia, you would look different. You would have talons, at the very least. Or a serpent's tail, like you had in the stories. Or something else. And it is not the mist which is making you look like this" Cato ended, his face red. His eyes shone, now he had decided he had misunderstood her or she was delusional. Which confused Lamia greatly, since it was foolish to think her being delusional was good news. Really foolish.
She raised her hands, trying to calm down the boy. " I'm sorry boy, but-" she started, only to be interrupted when Cato suddenly smiled even wider, apparently found another hole in her story. " You wouldn't even be here, if you were Lamia. The Lamia, I mean. Monsters can't enter the camp, unless a god helps them. Or they have to use the labyrinth, which you don't even know of. So you can't be her"! Cato said, smiling. He looked really relieved and happy. Lamia smiled too. She couldn't do anything different. It was.. touching he refused to believe the truth. And why wouldn't he? Everything better than the truth, if she was honest. The truth was really horrible.
Lamia sighed. " Sorry boy, but you are mistaken. I am Lamia. I came here by accident. I do not wish you any harm though". Cato's smiled was replaced by a frown. " You can't be her. Like I already said, she is a monster. And you are a girl, a really pretty one and look nice and- JESUS CHRIST"! Cato cursed when Lamia held her hand on his throat, the nails replaced with talons. Really sharp talons. Sharp enough to cut through flesh and bones, Lamia knew from experience.
Cato stared at her hand. Lamia saw his siblings tense and reach for their weapons, so she stepped back and raised her hands. She concentrated, willing her talons to become nails again. Cato sighed and stared at her. His gaze went to her legs for a moment, no doubt expecting her to grow a tail and attack him. She smiled at him. " I didn't scare you too much, did I? I merely wanted to demonstrate I am Lamia. But i'm not here to do you any harm. Seriously. I promise" she said softly, hoping the calm down the boy.
She turned towards Cato's siblings, who were armed and looked ready to kill her. " I do not intend harm on your brother or you. Please lower your weapons and let me explain. Annabeth can confirm I do not wish you any harm". Next to her, Annabeth nodded enthusiasicly. "She is right! She is not a monster guys, give the woma- Sorry , not woman, but girl. A chance. All right"? The teenagers exchanged looks until one of them, a tall guy with blond hair and another pair of startling grey eyes, nodded and sheated his weapon. He walked towards them until he stood in front of her. His eyes went over her body, as if to inspect she didn't carry any hidden weapons. Which she didn't. He narrowed his eyes at her, his hand still on his weapon. " We will give you a chance, but try to hurt any of my siblings and you will die, I promise you. Understood"? he said in a stern cold voice.
He was clearly trying intimidate Lamia. It might have worked, except Lamia was used to scarier situations than this. A lot scarier. She had seen Hera's wrath, people dying (often by her own hand in the ' good ol times), fought the Ordeen and she had seen the devil , the force of evil, himself. She wasn't easily scared. She wasn't sure she even could feel fear anymore. Well, except when Tom was in danger, then she would feel fear. She would do anything to prevent seeing him die. So, not really impressed, she stepped forward and patted the boy on his cheek. Flashing him a small, motherly smile, she nodded. " Of course boy. I understand. And you might be able to understand I already told you I wouldn't hurt your siblings"? she said, still smiling. She did this just so he would be annoyed, of course. And understand he needed to use another tone.
The boy made a growling sound, on which Lamia raised her eyebrows, and removed her hand from his cheek. " Very well. We have an agreement, then. Shall we shake hands"? Lamia chuckled. She offered him her hand. " Whatever you say, boy". The boy narrowed his eyes. " My name is Jonathan, not boy". Lamia shrugged. " Fine, Jonathan. You can call me-". He snorted and interrupted her. " Let me guess... Lamia"? Lamia sent him a cold glare, causing him to take a few steps back. And causing his siblings to snicker. Not that they came closer. They watched from a distance. With great interest. Lamia folded her arms, giving Jonathan an angry look. From the way he shrunk and looked at the ground, she found it was a lot more intimidating than his look.
She smirked, knowing all too well Jonathan was scared. " Listen, Jonathan. I understand you don't like this situation, and to be honest, neither do I. But we will have to cope with each other, all right? I will be nice to you, you will be nice to me. That is our agreement. Agreed"? Jonathan looked up and nodded. He shook her hand, which she still held close to him, and even smiled. " Agreed". Lamia smiled back. " Good. I'm glad to hear that". She gave him another smile, showing him straight, white teeth. Jonathan released her hand and blushed. Lamia saw it, but didn't say anything. She just turned away from him, to speak to his siblings.
She saw all the other children were staring at her, their mouths open. Cato was staring, too. He looked at her with a mix of wonder, confusion and disbelief. Sort of the same expression a child would have on Christmas Eve. Lamia smiled at him before she turned towards Annabeth. " Care to explain"? she asked her. Annabeth smiled. In the hours they had spent together, they had found they had a lot in common. Lamia believed, they could be friends. Even with the difference in age. " Of course not. My pleasure". She looked at her siblings and straightened a bit. " Ok, this is the deal. Lamia is staying with us. She emerged from nowhere and needs a place to stay. Which will be our cabin. Until we have found out how exactly she came here, we will have a guest in cabin six. Is this clear to everyone"? she asked her siblings, looking at all of them.
The children looked at each other before, after some time and a strong look from Annabeth, they nodded. Lamia let out a small sigh. She really didn't need any more enemies. Even if it were just children. Well, just children. That term didn't really apply to them, Lamia decided. After all, they were the children of Athena. That really confuses me. A virgin goddes, having children? I had to go through labour and all those months carrying the children. Weird idea to have children formed by thought.. Lamia pondered.
She looked at Annabeth again, who gave her a quick thumps up, making Lamia smile. She liked the girl and hoped they would become friends. She would make a great ally. She had already noticed the girl was smart, she had expected nothing less from a daughter of Athena, and she assumed she was a good fighter too.
Annabeth focused on her siblings, who still looked uncomfortable. " All right. I will arrange a bed for her, if Chiron didn't already do that, and I will find her some clothes". She turned towards Lamia. " I assume you didn't bring any clothes with you"? When Lamia shook her head, Annabeth shrugged and continued talking. " Didn't think so" she muttered. She went through her hair, her eyes slightly closed. She probably was thinking about a solution. " Anyone any ideas on that one? I assume we can't just go to the Aphrodite cabin, since their clothes aren't really.. well comfortable" Annabeth said, rolling her eyes. Lamia raised her eyebrows at her clear disgust. " Aphrodite? You mean the goddess of love? Her children are here, too"? Annabeth snickered. " Of course. Nothing against her, but she does have a lot of children. Only logical, since she is the goddess of love. And lust. And all those things" she said, shrugging.
Lamia bit her lip. " Hmm. I might need a talk with her, then. Asking her why she did all those things to me". Annabeth smiled. " Who knows". She turned away from Lamia when one of her brothers raised his hand. " Yes, Dennis? What do you want to say"? The boy, not older than eleven, shifted and looked at his feet. With a sigh, he looked up. " It-ts just, I-" he tried. Annabeth sighed too. " Just say what you want to say, all right"? Dennis nodded, not looking her into her eyes. " It's just, with the war that just happened and all, can we trust her? What if it is a trap"? he said, his voice small. He didn't look at Lamia, probably afraid she would be mad.
The other people nodded, silently agreeing. Lamia didn't blame them. She would be suspicious too. She frowned when she realized something. " War, what war"? she asked. Annabeth shrugged. " There was a war some time ago. The Titan Lord, Kronos, tried to attack Olympus and overthrow the gods. He didn't succeed though. He was defeated and his army too. A lot of demi-gods died. Others betrayed us and helped Kronos. It was terrible". Lamia looked at the girl. Something in Annabeth's face told her, Annabeth didn't tell her everything. But Lamia knew, the war must have been terrible. She walked towards Annabeth, laying an hand on her shoulder to comfort her. " I'm really sorry" she said. Annabeth gave her a small smile. " Thankyou".
Quickly changing the subject, she focused on Dennis once again. Lamia released her hand and took a few steps back, listening. " Listen Dennis, I understand why you are concerned. After all, we have reasons to believe, Lamia could set up a trap. But she won't. I talked to Mr.D, he was the one who recognized her, and he didn't say anything". A girl, looking an awful lot like annabeth, shrugged. " She could have fooled him too. Who knows what she is up to". Annabeth sighed. " I honostly don't think so, Sofia. For now, we will just keep an eye on her. Tell me when you notice something. I personally think we can trust her, but we are all right to be careful after all that happened".
When everyone nodded, Annabeth went on. " We will need some clothes and a bed for her. And a weapon would be favorable ". She turned towards Lamia. " Do you know how to use a sword"? Lamia shrugged. " I guess. I haven't fought in a long time though. Really fought, I mean". Annabeth nodded and seemed to think about this little fact. " Just join us during lessons, I will teach you if you want to".
When Lamia nodded, she continued. " So we need a sword, some clothes, maybe some other weapons.. Anyone who volunteers to get this"? A girl, Annabeth called her Vida, raised her hand. She seemed to be a year of 9, maybe ten, and had long, blond hair. And piercing grey eyes of course. When Vida had disappeared, Annabeth continued. " All right, that is settled then. Any more questions? And where is Malcolm"? she asked. " Malcolm is in the infirmary. Charlotte got hurt when she fought with Clarisse. He is in the infirmary to take care of her" someone said. Annabeth nodded. " Vey well. Any questions"? No one said anything, everyone looking really uncomfortable. They were all looking at Lamia, their expression a bit scared.
Annabeth sighed. " Come on, you can just ask questions. Really". " Great, then I have a question" someone behind them said. Annabeth and Lamia turned. Leaning against the wall, smiling evilly, stood Mr.D. He smirked, taking a step forward. Annabeth narrowed her eyes, clenching her fists slightly. " Mr.D. What are you doing here"? she asked him. Mr.D ignored her, his eyes on Lamia. " I have a question. When are you ready to see the gods"? he asked Lamia with that evil smile firmly on his face.
A few more things, I just re-read the reviews, ; Lamia isn't the daughter of Hecate. Well, not as far as I know. Joseph Delaney never mentioned it, so I will think about it. And Zeus will recognize her because her appearance is the same. And of course, he is a god. He is supposed to know these things. And if he doesn't know, considering he isn't very.. smart ( Zeus, please don't kill me, I'm just trying to be honest for once), Athena would know being the very smart person she is ( Duh, she is the goddess of wisdom). He will know she isn't his Lamia, that she isn't in the right place and everything.