Chapter Two

Hope returned home one day in late September to find her Sam, Dean and Bobby fighting off several ghosts.

He second she stepped in the door, the ghosts stopped attacking and bowed to her, which was awkward and incriminating. There was one woman with blonde hair, two little girls, a larger guy with frizzy hair and a black man. Hope immediately noticed the Mark of the Witness on all their hands and mentally swore.

"Uh, hi. Get outta here, ghosts, please."

The ghosts flickered and disappeared.

"What the hell was that?" Dean bellowed.

Hope took an instinctive step back, and answered "That was me saving your asses from the Witnesses."

"No, the 'get outta here' thing and the frigging bowing!"

"If you really want to know, my mom's a Greek ghost goddess. There are a few perks."

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Hope leant against the dirty wall of the house she'd lived in all her life and explained.

"My mom's Melinoe. She's a minor Greek goddess, the goddess of ghosts. Which is more than a little ironic, when you think about dad's day job. We're called demigods, or half-bloods."

"There are more of you?" Sam asked, sounded a little panicked. Hope smirked. "Around a hundred at camp, and Zeus knows how many others who don't know."

"There's a camp for demigods?"

Hope nodded "Yeah. Camp Half-Blood. You know all the old myths? Medusa, the Minotaur? All true, and they hate demigods. We spend our lives fighting these things, and camp's the only safe place. The borders keep out the monsters and the mortals. The normal humans like you guys." She added at her brothers' looks of confusion.

"Do you kill people?" Demanded Dean. Hope suddenly thought that he looked much sadder than the last time she'd seen him. She knew he'd been to Hell and apparently an angel had pulled him out. Hope wasn't sure what to make of that, but she wouldn't be that surprised if it turned out to be true.

"Nope. We're basically like normal people, except we sometimes have powers, it depends on your parent. I can control ghosts because of my mom, but my friend Emma can't do anything except be lucky. She's a child of Tyche, the luck goddess. And we're often dyslexic or ADHD, usually both. I'm both. I can read Ancient Greek, though, and I have epic reflexes in a fight."

"ADHD… that's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, right? And dyslexia is when you have trouble reading or writing." Sam said.

"Yeah. My grades are abysmal, especially in English. Look, guys, I don't hurt anyone, neither does anybody else I know at camp. I'm just a pretty normal eleven-year-old girl who happens to be both a hunter and a demigod, which sucks, and I am going to die so young, but there is nothing wrong or monstrous about me."

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Later, when Castiel appeared to Dean, he was interrupted by a 5"2 figure (Hope was obviously continuing the family tradition of immense height) wearing a massive T-shirt commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Sioux Falls Annual Baking Competition that had been purchased with the exact purpose of sleeping in it. Hope's short hair was flat on one side and her eyes were bleary, but her voice was firm as she demanded "Who in Hades are you, then?"

The angel considered her. This then was Hope Winchester, the third component of God's plan. Her soul had a half-blood's streak of gold, but the rest was almost completely righteous white.

"I am Castiel. You're Hope Winchester."

She raised an eyebrow "That would indeed be me, yes."

"Go back to sleep, Hope." Dean interrupted.

Hope folded her arms over her chest. "Yeah, that's so happening."

Castiel sighed. This half-blood, essential as she was, was just as irritating as her eldest half-brother, and he hadn't been ordered to converse with her, only about her. He strode over and placed two fingers to her forehead, after which she fell down, completely unconscious.

"What the hell?" Dean exclaimed.

"She's just unconscious. Dean, when you and your brother leave this place, you have to take her with you. She's important."

"How is she important? She's, what, eleven?""

"As I believe she has said on many occasions, age is relative. I would suggest you put her to bed." Castiel answered, and vanished.

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Hope was light enough, despite being what could definitely be described as tall. Dean found her room easily enough and carefully placed her in bed. He looked at a few of the photos on her walls, noticing a few recurring people, most noticeably a mixed-race girl of about Hope's age. In one photo, they were wearing orange T-shirts with the words 'Camp Half-Blood' written on them. Hope had an immense sword strapped on her back, with two straps crisscrossing her chest.

The photos were of smiling, happy Hope and the girl who was presumably Emma, but the grins hid worry, for sure. In the background, teenagers were strapping on armour, which was never a good thing.

He noticed the sword leaning in a scabbard in a corner, but it was as though someone wanted him to see it, rather than as if it was actually meant to be seen. He remembered Hope explaining about the Mist when he'd asked why nobody noticed a bunch of children fighting monsters. Dean couldn't help but wonder whether somebody was allowing him to see it through the Mist so that he could understand her world a little better.

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In the morning, Hope awoke only to discover she was apparently being kidnapped under the orders of an angel. Needless to say, she, Sam and Bobby all protested violently, using the respective argument that: 1) she didn't want to be abducted, 2) it was too dangerous and 3) something along the lines of "Hell no!" Nobody brought up school, however, as it was obvious to all that for Hope there really wasn't much point in going. Hope secretly thanked all the gods, as school had never been her strong point.

However, the angel's vote eventually won, and Hope flounced off to grab clothes and other personal effects, which she shoved in a bag, all the while wondering why exactly she was so important. At camp she was just another Hermes reject, a minor kid with a massive sword. To other hunters, she was an impertinent little kid. How could it be that an angel had said that she was important? She was just Hope Winchester.

Had to be something, though, right?

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She was still pondering that when she climbed into the back of her dad's old car which felt blissfully familiar, and left her home. Little did she know that when she next lived in Sioux Falls, she'd be married.

AN: Hey everybody! Thanks for all your lovely reviews, especially PrincessMagic. You rock.

In this chapter, we have a little more demigod action. I really have no idea how to write Hope at CHB. All I can figure is that she and Chiron would have a definite antipathy towards each other. If anyone has any ideas, please tell me!

-threelittleclouds