The months after Percy and Silena leave for school are terrible. Firstly, Julie's been forced into tutoring sessions with the remaining Athena campers, which she is not pleased about. Honestly, who cares about times tables when you're normally out fighting monsters and kicking evil titan butt? But, Malcom claims that she's "appallingly behind" and "should know how to read at 12 years old."
Pfft. She can read. Kinda. She can write her name, at least.
Secondly, her only friends being gone means she's spending most of her time alone and that's just making her get weird. She spends most of her time finding new obscure places to sit while she sketches or avoids going to sword training. This habit of hers is very not appreciated by Chiron, who once had to send out the rest of the campers on a manhunt for her when she fell asleep on the roof of the weapons shed and didn't turn up for lunch or dinner. She's gotten way too used to talking to herself now too and often gets looks from the Apollo campers that make her worried they're going to lock her in a room with Mr. D in hopes he'll cure her of madness or something.
Her auras aren't getting any better either. It doesn't feel any different to Juliette, but apparently her recent bout of loneliness mixed with her Heartbreak powers makes others "too sad to be around her," so she gets ditched even more often by the few campers willing to talk to her. Go figure. Yay for demigod irony.
So, by the time a flaming school bus comes crashing into the lake, Juliette is absolutely desperate for some human interaction. She's at archery practice with the Athena cabin when it happens, so she gets frantic shouts at her to stop running with sharp objects as she takes off at full speed for the lake without sheathing the arrow she'd knocked. She decides just to drop the whole bow on her run over - if there's one thing she knows, where there's explosions and a body of water, there's a Percy Jackson.
There's a crowd of people gathered around the shore. Chiron is talking to a teenage guy with blonde hair (which makes her do a double take when she first sees him), Thalia is glaring heatedly at a short girl around Julie's age with a silver circlet resting above her eyes, and...there!
"PERCY!" Julie flies past the group, knocking a short boy with dark hair aside as she throws herself into Percy's arms.
He stumbles a bit, fumbling to catch her. "Why do children keep attacking me today?!" He yelps.
Julie pulls back, failing to push the smile off her face. "I should attack you! Where have you been? You promised to Iris me while you were gone!"
"Yeah, yeah, sorry. I got a little busy. Grover found some demigods, and we had to go get them from some boarding school." He explains, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
Julie lights up. "'We?' Is Annabeth here too?"
Percy's face falls, and suddenly Chiron is beside them, placing a firm hand on Juliette's shoulder. "Juliette, why don't you show Nico and Bianca around camp whilst I speak with Percy about what has happened?" Chiron suggests.
Julie frowns. "But-"
"I'm sure they'd appreciate a seasoned camper like you showing them the ropes." He winks at her.
Pride swells in Julie's chest, and she beams, turning towards the newcomers. The boy is looking in annoyance at where she's still clinging to Percy's hand. He seems to be a year or two younger than Juliette, with short black hair and a face spattered with freckles. Bianca looks a little older than Julie, with long dark brown hair and a slightly crooked nose. She smiles nervously at Juliette before looking over to the girl with the circlet in question.
Circlet girl clears her throat. "Actually, Chiron, Bianca will stay with us. She is a realized Hunter of Artemis now and is not your concern." The girl barks. Chiron frowns a bit, but relents, nodding at Julie to go ahead with Nico.
Julie turns to the boy, thrusting out her hand. "I'm Juliette Aster, daughter of Aphrodite. Who are you?" She chirps with a smile.
The boy crooks an eyebrow at her, but grins. "My name's Nico di Angelo. Your mom's Aphrodite? Does that mean you can make love potions or something?" He asks excitedly, shaking her hand with enthusiasm.
Juliette laughs in confusion. "No? That would be so weird. I can do other things, though. C'mon, I'll explain on the tour!" She uses their connected hands to start pulling him in the direction of the Hermes Cabin.
Nico laughs and turns to wave goodbye to his sister before matching pace with her. "So, what can you do then? Aphrodite's a pretty okay card. She only has 1500 attack points, but she's good at support stuff - especially if you have a magic caster in play. Then, she's awesome. Do you have magic?"
Julie blinks a bit at the sudden onslaught of words. No one has spoken this much to her in weeks. She grins. "No, no magic. I can actually...well," Julie hesitates. No one at camp really likes her abilities (well, other than the Ares cabin. Clarisse watched her use them one time and deemed them "sick," which Percy says is a good thing, but Julie's unconvinced). "It's hard to explain in words. Maybe I can show you sometime. It only really happens when I'm upset, though. Mostly, I just get really big and have wings and claws and stuff." She winces. That was a really lame sentence, Julie.
"THAT'S SO COOL!" He shrieks. Actually shrieks. Like, so loud that several people by the dining pavilion look over curiously. "Can you show me? If you have wings, does that mean you can fly? How big do you get?" He's excitedly bouncing on the balls of his feet at this point, and Julie feels like her heart just grew ten sizes.
A wave of emotion crashes over Julie, but it's too hard to identify, so she just swallows the lump in her throat and lets a grin grow on her face. "I'm not allowed to transform unless Chiron or Mr. D is with me, but you can come watch sometime! Yes, I can fly, and it's so cool. There's nothing I like better than flying. I can't wait until I'm older and get to transform by myself. I think I'll just spend all of my time in the sky-" As she explains, Nico hangs on her every word to the point that he almost trips over the steps of the Hermes Cabin when they arrive. Julie knocks loudly on the door and Connor answers, a mischievous smirk in place.
"Hello, little lady. Do you have any thin mints left? Otherwise, we aren't interested." He says seriously.
Julie rolls her eyes. "I've told you a million times that I don't get that joke, Connor." She steps aside and pulls Nico up the porch by his wrist. "This is Nico. He just got here with Percy and Thalia." She introduces.
Nico smiles a little shyly this time as Connor gives him a grin and leans his head back to take a deep breath. "TRAAAVVIIIISSSSSSS!" He screams at the top of his lungs. Nico jumps, but Juliette just frowns in annoyance. Every time.
A few seconds later, a slightly older version of Connor comes rounding the corner from the direction of the arena. "WHAT?! JEEZ!" He shouts back in irritation.
"Fresh meat." Conner smirks.
Travis grins and approaches Nico, who is now standing slightly behind Juliette. She doesn't blame him. The Stolls are terrifying before you realize what idiots they are. "Hey, kid. You just rolled in, huh? I'm Travis." He holds out his hand for Nico to shake.
Julie snatches Nico's hand before it can make contact with Travis', pulling it back quickly. "Travis! What'd Chiron say about shocking the new campers?" She scolds with a frown.
Travis laughs, holding his palms up and pulling the trick hand buzzer out of his sleeve. "Ahh, you know me too well, Aster. You're an effective bodyguard." He turns back to Nico. "But, seriously, good to meet you. I'm the head counselor for the Hermes cabin. Looks like you'll be staying with us for a little while-"
Julie tunes out Travis' voice as he goes on the usual first-day spiel. Nico looks entertained and is smiling instead of hiding behind her now, so she figures it's going well. It's not until Travis leaves Nico to get settled with his new bunk that the younger boy's smile drops a bit and Julie tunes back in.
"You okay?" She asks softly. If anyone knows how overwhelming Day #1 can be, it's her.
"Yeah," Nico says quickly. "I just don't think I've ever lived away from Bianca before. He said she'll probably be in the Artemis cabin, so..." He trails off, his eyes lowering to the floor.
Julie shifts a little. "Well, it's just until you get claimed. Once you are, you'll have more siblings you'll get to live with." She laughs and smiles at him. "I have seven!"
Nico's eyes widen. "You have seven brothers and sisters?"
Julie grins wider. "Yeah! They aren't all here right now. But, my mom makes kids a lot. Maybe we're siblings too and just don't know it yet." She suggests. This gets a smile out of him, which she counts as a win. "Come on, I'll show you the dining pavilion!" She chirps as she waves him to follow after her.
They spend a few hours wandering around camp, Juliette showing him all of the activities he'll get to do and even bringing him to a few of her secret hideouts. By dinnertime, they're both giggling over the terrible orientation film and covered in dirt from a fall out of Julie's favorite tree, much to their siblings' disgust. The campfire is even more fun. For them. The two of them sit and chatter on either side of Percy, who looks like he might cry if he gets asked another question about the fight with the manticore or his surfing prowess. By the end of the night, Julie has learned that they'll be playing capture the flag against the Hunters the following day and has been forcibly pinky-sweared into playing Mythomagic with Nico after it's over. She's also discovered that Nico has an obsession with pirates and is an "expert" s'more maker (apparently, she doesn't roast her marshmallows long enough, and that makes the whole thing "wrong"). By the time Percy walks her to the Big House for the night, she's so lost in bliss that she skips right past the porch steps and he has to physically turn her around by her shoulders to go in the correct direction.
"You're insane tonight." He remarks, rolling his eyes fondly. "Please try not to break an ankle on the stairs because you were daydreaming. Michael would definitely not appreciate that." He quips.
Julie laughs and gives him a tight hug. "I just missed you guys! It's really really good to see you. Things here have been..." She trails off, a bit of the happiness in her expression going cold. Percy pulls back and cringes guiltily.
"I'm sorry. I should've called more." He admits. Something fractures in his own expression. "I think I might have to leave again soon, just for a little while. Annabeth, she-" The sentence cuts off in a choke, and Julie hugs him again.
"I understand." She's not happy, but she understands. "You'll bring her home safe. I know you will." The arms around her tighten a bit and Percy sighs tiredly before pulling away again.
"Thanks, Jules. Now, you need a shower and to go to bed. So, off with you before you get me eaten by harpies." He teases, pushing her towards the front door. She sticks her tongue out at him before turning and heading inside for the night.
For the first time in months, she goes to sleep excited for the next day.
Capture the flag goes about as well as Julie expected it to. Meaning, it ends in a one-on-one throw down between Percy and Thalia, during which one gets struck by lightning, one gets soaked by river water, and everyone gets a prophecy screeched at them. Julie's still brushing knots out of her hair (freshly washed because she was not going to walk around with helmet hair all night) when Nico plops down onto his bunk beside her heavily, kicking his foot out to slam it into the side table angrily.
Julie jumps, looking at him with wide apple green eyes. "What's wrong? We still playing?" She asks worriedly.
Nico scowls, something frightening swimming behind his eyes for the first time since she'd met him. "She's going. She's leaving tomorrow." He says in a clipped tone. It takes Julie a moment to understand.
"Bianca?" She asks, sure she must be misunderstanding. "On the quest? But, she isn't even claimed yet!"
Nico, if possible, scowls harder. "Yeah, I know. The Hunters have 'different rules,' she said. She's leaving with them in the morning."
Julie blinks owlishly for a second. Why in Hades would a brand new demigod have been picked to go on a quest? Even Julie has more training than Bianca. And that prophecy sounded dangerous. A wave of anxiety and resentment smacks Juliette in the face from Nico's direction. The tingles she's starting to become accustomed to when people she cares about get upset are starting in her fingertips, and Julie realizes these are probably not thoughts Nico would appreciate hearing out loud.
"She'll be okay. I mean, who else is going?" She asks.
Nico huffs. "The Zeus girl. And the Hunter that was wearing the crown. The goat-guy that was at the school with us, and some other Hunter whose name starts with an F or something. Fee-something." He mutters bitterly.
Juliette's chest constricts. No Percy. He must be devastated. "Well, if she's going with Thalia and Grover, you have nothing to worry about." She assures him. "Thalia's crazy powerful, and Grover helped save my life, you know?"
Nico looks up in interest at that. "What? How?" He asks, his distress momentarily pushed to the back of his mind. Julie smiles a little, but wavers as memories surge up behind her eyes. If this will distract him from his worry, she supposes a trip down bad-decision lane could be worth it.
"He helped me get out of a bad situation. Him, Percy, and Annabeth." She takes a deep breath. "I grew up in the mountains down in North Carolina. I was raised with some dryad kids in a colony of nature spirits out in the woods-"
"What about your parents?" Nico cuts in. He frowns, then amends, "Your mortal parent, I guess."
Julie shifts a little. "I don't have one."
Nico looks bewildered. "What do you mean you 'don't have one'? How were you born then?"
"I mean, I kind of have one." Julie sighs in frustration as she searches for the right words. "It's a long story, but he's not around. My mom created me, and he wasn't pleased. So, he left me where he found me. Honestly, I can't really blame him." She mutters. Nico puffs out his cheeks at that, but doesn't speak. "Yeah. But, anyway, Purple Aster found me. She brought me back to the colony and raised me with the dryad kids until I was eleven. Then, one day, two boys showed up at our camp. I don't know what they said to Aster, but she told me that they were going to take me somewhere safe." Julie frowns in thought. "Now that I think about it, they probably told her we'd be coming here. But, we didn't. When we left the compound, they brought me to the coast, and we got on a ship." Fear strikes through her, and Juliette pauses. That ship. There isn't a single good memory from that ship.
"The ship was...bad. They were bad. Especially Luke. They made me transform when I didn't want to. I had to-" Julie chokes a little at the memory. "I had to kill things. Monsters. Things that were asking to be let go. Crying.
"Then, one day, Grover, Annabeth, and Percy showed up and fought Luke on the ship. He tried to get me to attack them, but I went after him instead." Julie smirks proudly, and Nico smiles a little, nudging her leg with his foot encouragingly. "I got pretty hurt during the fight, but when I woke up afterwards, they brought me here. I've been here ever since."
Nico grins. "I'm glad you're here." He states. Julie's heart swells. She looks back down at the cards spread out on the bedspread.
"So, you're gonna have to explain this slowly, because I'm really bad at reading."