June 2006

Kiara woke up to frantic knocking on the cabin door. Her mind was blanketed in a half-asleep haze until Annabeth slammed the door open.

"There—someone—big house," she gasped leaning against the door.

Kiara froze her mind flashing through what could have happened. Everyone was asleep unless someone had snuck out and gotten hurt in the forest or the lake. The forest was the worst option, she did not know the full extent of the monsters there, while the lake housed mainly naiads and fish. There was the option that the harpies took a bite out of a new camper but they rarely went through with their threats. Without being aware of it Kiara threw on a sweatshirt and started grabbing potions and vials she might need.

Without stopping she asked, "Annabeth how urgent is this? Do you know anything about the injuries or incident?"

Lee, the only other one who had stayed up after Annabeth arrived, helped her prepare their things.

"I don't know. Chiron just said to get you. There was a new camper—and Grover was unconscious!"

Kiara frowned and sifted through their stash. Most of the time their medicine bag was full but the day before Julia had gotten burns from the climbing wall. In his haste, Lee accidentally dropped a potion into her bag.

"Lee be careful you might have broken them." Kiara checked the glass vials and plastic-wrapped ambrosia. Satisfied the potions in the vials wouldn't mix and burn a hole through the bag and her leg, Kiara turned to the jittery girl.

"I'm ready. Tell me what else you know on the way."

They had a protocol for nighttime emergencies. As the most experienced healers, Michael and Kiara took turns with the others as backup. But that did not matter now. Annabeth raced a few feet ahead of Kiara. The night was bright, the moon high in the clear sky. Around the edges of camp Kiara glimpsed one of the worst storms she had seen battling the protective barrier. Something was wrong. Kiara just hoped it did not have anything to do with her patients.

-o-

"Welcome Kiara. Thank you for helping Annabeth." The girl opened her mouth to refute the dismissal but a look from Chiron sent her stomping away.

The centaur chuckled before turning to Kiara, "I am sorry for bothering you at this late hour. Grover and our new camper seem to have met an issue on their way here. I thought your expertise on the matter may surpass mine at this point." Chiron rolled through the hallway down to the infirmary.

"Chiron, do you know what got them into their state?" Kiara felt a little stress seeping out of her at his calm presence. If the situation were worse he would not slow her path. His composed tone spoke more than words about her patients' well-being.

"Well, my dear, Grover seems to have hit his head sometime on the journey, there is a sizable lump on there, and Percy…well, we aren't sure. No one saw the event, but we did find the Minotaur's horn on the hill… Anyway, I am sure we will get the rest of the story after the boy wakes up." Chiron pushed the door open to show the two boys lying on the infirmary beds.

Kiara rushed over to them her earlier calm fading at their worn appearance. She missed her magic; she could check them over with a spell within seconds. Now she had to do a primary assessment and a hymn to check over them. She let out a relieved sigh finding their minor injuries. All other thoughts faded away as she focused on the boys. She barely noticed Chiron leaving. Grover only had a minor concussion and a sprained ankle, probably from falling or getting hit with something fast. The other boy was in slightly worse shape.

Quickly, Kiara set to work. Setting their injuries before she healed them was vital or else the healing would do more damage. Dealing with her more injured patient Kiara straightened his leg and shoulder before binding them to temporary stabilizers. Without hesitation, she closed her eyes plunging deep within her soul. Slowly she left her barrier of magic and soul, searching the dark emptiness for the one she needed to help. This world was strange, Kiara knew where she was but she had no physical form. She moved with a thought, drifting through until she found him. A ball of blue-green strands tangled around itself, protecting the fragile bits and pieces that made up this boy. Gently Kiara tapped on one of the strands stretching outwards. She pulled it close and with a little tweaking opened a channel.

She was in a different place now. The same darkness but also new. In front of her was the boy's body, to be specific his soul's connection to his body. Kiara could see his injuries stark against the rest of his body, glowing brightly. What in the veins would be blood was energy, pooling at his knee, shoulder, and head.

Kiara focused on his leg gently connecting to his energy. Kiara could feel his soul reach out to her, knowing she could help. It started pulling at her strands, pulling too much, too fast. His soul wanted to heal its body, fix itself, and become whole. With a jolt, Kiara pulled back panting deeply even though she had no physical lungs or a need to breathe. She had to remind herself not to heal him with her soul alone even with the comforting feeling of rightness. She had to be wary or she could lose her soul—listless and without an anchor. Moving closer once more she pulled at his energy along with her own, humming a hymn she had never learned but always knew. Before her eyes, she watched as little by little the tissue reached out and fused with its severed partner.

With a weak bond in place, Kiara stepped back—heart pumping as if she had just raced around the canoe lake. She took a step back and focused on his other injuries. The initial engagement was always the hardest for her, the soul trying to reach out and save itself, like someone drowning. It would not be aware that it was pulling her down for its safety. She eased over to his shoulder not once stopping her hymn. The tone of her song shifted adapting to his dislocated shoulder and letting her gently maneuver his joint back into place.

Pulling her presence away and reversing her path, Kiara opened her eyes to the infirmary of the big house. Resting a moment Kiara let out a heavy breath. Her fingers reached up to fiddle with her necklace as she watched his face. The pained wrinkle faded from his brow and if Kiara did not know better she would have said he was sleeping. Kiara pulled her thermos of nectar out of her medicine bag and lifted him upright; there was not much she could do for his concussion or exhaustion other than rest. She tilted his head back and poured a thimble's worth of nectar into his mouth. Immediately, Kiara could feel his injuries mend. It was tempting to give him more nectar but the possible burning of her patient to death was not something Kiara wanted to do. She rested him back down before moving on to Grover.

Without nectar, Kiara had to rely more on her hymns and knowledge of woodland healing. Kiara could feel her exhaustion setting in. Working on uncommon bodies took more energy than healing five she was comfortable with but she could not stop.

After setting Grover's ankle Kiara rummaged through her bag. Pulling out a comfrey and hypericum paste, she knelt by his leg. Kiara spread the paste over his ankle, humming all the while. She sent a prayer to her father before working on his concussion. Without the food of the gods and her magic, she would have to rely on her hymns and potions. She could not do more than gently nudge his soul in the direction of healing. This time was more exhausting than earlier. She had to be careful with each influence of his soul. One wrong move and she would make everything worse.

-o-

Kiara woke back in her own bed, not entirely sure how she got there. She remembered healing, and then talking to Chiron, but nothing after. Kiara abruptly sat up. The boys. She needed to check on them. Kiara wrenched herself out of bed, her leg getting caught by her blanket tripping her onto Idalia's bed.

"Hey!" Idalia's voice was muffled under all the blankets piled on her.

"Sorry." Kiara winced, pealing herself off the bed.

Kiara's younger sister grumbled swatting her hands away before settling back under the covers. Kiara ignored the tired girl after her refusal for help. She rushed around the room throwing on clothes and checking on her siblings. Everyone was there. Everyone was fine. Kiara did not know exactly why she kept checking every morning but she had to. Something pulled on her conscience, whispering warnings into her ears. Kiara knew something was about to happen. She did not know when or how but she trusted herself.

The last time she felt something similar was when Will had fallen from Thalia's tree and past the border. A massive ceraste watched him on the opposite side of the border as he held his broken arm to his chest. It was the first time Will came to camp. She had known he was going to come two days before and kept finding herself setting up an extra bed and waiting for someone who was not yet there.

This time the feeling was different, she was not waiting for someone new. It felt more like she was waiting for someone to be gone. Like she could already feel the grief choking her. Kiara knew there was no point in dwelling on it. She just needed to be prepared for no matter what happened.

Lee dazedly blinked at her as she told him where she was going and ran out the door. A smile spread across Kiara's face at her brother's messed-up hair. She regretted that she would miss his inevitable frantic dash to the bathroom once he realized. Kiara waved at the campers that were awake this early, most of whom glared half-heartedly at her cheery disposition. The big house was even brighter in the day its baby blue paint competing with the morning sky.

Kiara rushed past Dionysus setting up a card game on the porch, "Good morning Mr D. Hope you win today."

The camp director just humphed and went back to his cards.

Kiara slowed down as she neared the doors to the infirmary. She opened the door only to find Grover attempting to stand up.

"No! Get back down! You aren't healed yet!" Kiara pushed him back down once he swung his legs over.

Grover let out a sheepish grin, "Sorry Kiki. I just need to check on him. I'm his protector and I…"

Kiara let out a semi-exasperated sigh and helped him rearrange his bed so he could see the boy.

"He had a concussion, partially torn tendon in his knee, dislocated shoulder, and extreme exhaustion," Kiara listed as she moved over to check on him, "He's going to be out for at least the next few days. I'm going to need someone to give him daily doses of nectar-"

"I can do that." Annabeth appeared whipping off her baseball cap and giving Kiara and Grover mini heart attacks. She was strangely bright-eyed for someone who had woken Kiara up in the middle of the night.

"Annabeth are you supposed to be here."

"No one said I shouldn't," Annabeth snarked.

Kiara rolled her eyes at the tween and continued checking over the boy.

"Grover, Chiron told me the boy's name last night but I forgot it with all the things going on. What happened last night?"

"His name is Percy Jackson. You know how Chiron was out during the year?" At the girls' nods he continued, "Well Percy's why. I met him at Yancy Academy and his sent was so strong. He's powerful. I…um…I lost him getting off a bus and I finally tracked him down. The Minotaur found us first. We were close so his mom drove us here but then-then I don't know." He dropped his face into his hands, "I'm such a bad protector. I keep ruining everything. Percy got here without me. I'm useless."

"Grover!" Annabeth protested, "You kept him safe during the year. Who knows what could have happened to him if you weren't there."

Kiara agreed but knew he would not listen to her. "You'll be back on your feet by the end of the day but I need you to take it easy. "

-o-

After giving directions to Annabeth and telling her she would be back to check on him, Kiara rushed to start her day. The campers were already making their way to the mess hall. She weaved around groups making her way over to her siblings. She squished in between Idalia and Lee right before the nymphs came around with platefuls of bread, fruits, and some kind of meat.

"Sorry, Ida for earlier. There's a new camper in the infirmary and I needed to check on him."

At the mention of a new person Will and Charlotte perked up. They loved new people whether that meant helping or messing with them. At their eager looks, Kiara agreed she would take them to meet him after Percy woke up.

The rest of breakfast passed fast other than the occasional argument at one of the tables. The group separated during their free time before they had to hold the archery lesson. Lee and Michael led the practice their eyes twitching whenever a camper gripped their bow wrong or tried to collect their arrows before they were given the all-clear. Kiara laughed at them from the side where she was assisting some of the other campers in fletching arrows. They were sitting at a table off to the side far enough that they were not in danger of being hit by a stray shot. There were six of them working on adding the fletching to the arrows the Hephaestus cabin prepared for them.

"Did you see the sky last night? I almost thought it wouldn't pass around us," Christopher whispered to Drew.

"I heard it too. Nothing has gotten that close in ages."

"What do you think is going on?"

The whispers kept going through the lesson. The feeling Kiara had kept growing. Something was going to happen, and she had a strange feeling the new boy would be part of it.

Hi everyone! So I want to show what Kiara did during the Lighting Thief and get her character more solid. I am going to pause for Act 2 and focus on this. I am not sure how many chapters this will be but I am hoping the chapters will be longer like 2,000+ words. Things might be a little confusing or reptitive if you've read the other act first because I'll be trying to fix some things but after I finish this Act I will go back and edit everything.

Any questions are welcome. If you liked this chapter, please consider giving it a comment or favorite. Thanks for reading!

- Natalie