Nevaeh's POV
To say I was mad at the Council was an understatement. Though I had agreed to go, I was still furious at them. Goode was where Percy and Annabeth used to - and probably still - go and I hated them. I was close to Hades and Persephone, they were like my parents when I was younger, I was given to Camp Half-Blood when I was one. During the Giant War, I was only 13. That was just 3 years ago.
*Flashback*
I had just found out I was an elf and then I was told that the Giant War had started and so I went to help them win. After the war, the eidolons came and broke their promise. They took over the seven and my other friends, except for Nico and Thalia. My friends, under the possession of eidolons, told me:
"You don't belong anywhere, you are an abomination."
"That's the eidolons speaking. Eidolons, get out of them, you broke your promise. You promised on the Styx." I argued, tears pricking my eyes.
"You are wrong," the eidolon possessing Annabeth said. "We only voice what is on their minds aloud. You have powers that have never been seen and that means you are an abomination. They are scared of you and hate you. They only became your friend because they were told to by Chiron so that they could keep you in line. They all think that you are an abomination and don't deserve to live. Also, for your information, promises on the River Styx never work on eidolons because we are already dead."
*Flashback over*
Heartbroken and angry, I returned to the Lost Cities to find my whole family hated me. I went to Ravagog because when I had read the KOTLC books by Shannon Messenger, Ro and Bo had been some of my favorite characters. Shannon Messenger had gotten everything right because 1 year later, Tam and Linh had been banished. I met them and we quickly became best friends and soon, Tam became my boyfriend, then husband. Linh was my sister, so was Ro, Bo was my brother. Dimitar officially adopted me. Not that anyone other than the Council, the ogres, Tam and Linh know that. I am also a high ranking noble. Even more so than Alden. No one knows except the people I listed above and Queen Hylda, she's my aunt. I also found out maybe a month after I left that I was a failed version of Project Moonlark. That is my story, a story I don't like telling people or thinking of.
Anyway, we had to leave for Goode today. Something happened this morning, two things actually. The first one was, a hellhound appeared. I recognized it as one of Hades' hellhounds. It had a note attached to its collar. When I took the note, it disappeared. I walked inside and grabbed a cup of coffee. I sat down and opened the note. It read:
Nevaeh,
Persephone and I, along with the other gods, miss you. We heard about the situation with the eidolons. None of what they said is true. At least for us. If Chiron truly did ask them to become your friends, we were unaware.
We're sorry that it has taken this long to contact you. We didn't think you would listen if we contacted you any sooner. Also, we weren't completely aware of what had happened until about a year ago. We only knew that most of your friends had gotten into an argument with you that left you really upset. Please come and visit soon. You're welcome anytime.
Love,
Hades
God of the Underworld and one of your fathers
I was so surprised, I dropped my mug. It shattered on the floor, spilling the coffee, and Tam and Linh came running into the kitchen.
"Nevaeh! What happened?" Linh asked, Tam, who had walked behind me, read the note over my shoulder.
"Nevaeh, Love, what are you going to do?" He asked, hugging me from behind and resting his chin on the top of my head. I took a deep breath.
"Linh, Hades sent a letter asking me to visit. Tam, we'll probably see them soon. We are going to New York, after all and to Goode High School." I answer both their questions at once.
"Do you want to see them?" Tam asked.
"Some. Athena and Poseidon remind me of Percy and Annabeth, so not them so much." I sigh. "But that doesn't matter right now. We should go to Everglen. That's where we're meeting everyone, unfortunately." We went to the Leapmaster 15,000. Since I was the highest ranking noble there was, I got access to everywhere except Exile. I had a special crystal that I kept around my neck to get to Exile. Tam called 'Everglen' and we held hands. I was in the middle, Linh on my left, Tam on my right. That was our usual formation, or it was Linh on the left, Tam in the middle and me on the right. We stepped through the light and appeared in Everglen's Leapmaster room. Everyone was staring at us. I let go of Tam and Linh's hands quickly.
"Why'd you guys leap together?" Biana asked with a hint of suspicion. She had a crush on Tam - everyone could tell, it's not like she was trying to hide it - and wanted to date him for like a year. She thought he had a crush on her. I thought quickly, coming up with a decent lie.
"Linh slept over last night after she packed. Tam came over this morning to pick her up and we decided it was easier to just leap together." I said. Luckily, Keefe had run out of the room to use the restroom before I answered, so he couldn't call me out. Biana bought my lie and nodded. She left and the others followed, except Mr. Forkle. That was when the second surprising thing happened. Usually, Mr. Forkle ignores me and I ignore him but today, he transmitted a question:
'That was a lie. You three live together, do you not?' I shadow whispered back:
'Yes, for reasons you don't need to know, so don't ask.' That was the first, no second, time we've ever spoken. He nodded, looking surprised - obviously, he hadn't expected me to say that - but letting it go. I followed him out of the room and walked over to Tam who was a couple feet away from everyone else.
"You good?" He whispered without anyone seeing or hearing. I nod and we join the group who was crowding around Councilor Oralie.
"Hey Ora, how are we getting there?" I ask her.
"Sophie is teleporting everyone to the apartment complex. We've purchased the penthouse for you all." She responds. I glare at the ground and mutter:
"Is this a 'do-everything-Nevaeh-hates' day?" Tam hears me and shakes his head, chuckling. Keefe also heard and laughed as well. Everyone else just stared confused. I spoke louder: "Really Ora? Teleporting? You do know I hate heights, right? For a good reason too." Dawning shows itself on her face before she says:
"Yes Nevaeh. It won't kill you." I snort at this. We both know that if Zeus was mad enough that it just might kill me, even though he liked me most days. "This is what must happen." I sigh at her answer but nod. "Okay, when you get there, ask for the top penthouse. Sophie, here's a picture." She digs something out of her pocket and hands it to Sophie, who looks at it and hands it back.
"Alright, let's head outside. Wait, what about our luggage?"
"I just banished it to the Penthouse, along with your dog, Nevaeh." Edaline responds. I nod at her as a 'thank you'. Wait, how'd she banish an animal? I thought conjurers couldn't banish or conjure animals. I shake it off.
Outside, Sophie offered her hands to us. Keefe took one, Biana took the other. Fitz took Biana's other hand, Linh took his, Tam's took Linh's and I took Tam's. Dex took Keefe's hand, Marella took his, Ro took Marella's and Bo took Ro's. All of the Elves levitated and dragged Ro and Bo with us. We shot into the sky. We went up to about 200 feet and I was practically squeezing the life out of Tam's hand. He didn't complain though, he knew how much I was afraid of heights. We dropped and I squeezed my eyes shut. Tam squeezed my hand back, offering me some comfort. I heard a crack, a boom and thunder. Then I felt the ground beneath our feet. I opened my eyes and let go of Tam's hand.
"Oh, thank Hades." I say. Tam laughed before taking my hand and pulling me inside and we walked to the reception desk. I walk up front, taking the lead since this is my home city. "Keys for the top penthouse please." I told the lady. She nodded then looked up. I recognized her as Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares, and ex-friend. I cursed and backed away but it was too late. She'd already seen me.
"Oh, hello, I haven't seen you in awhile." She says. I glare at her.
"Hello Clarisse. Tell nobody you saw me and give me the keys to the top penthouse. Please and thank you." I probably could have said it in a kinder way but she was one of my old friends. I hated her. She sighs but nods, knowing I wasn't ready to face my past and she would deal with it until I was ready. We went into the elevator and I slid the keycard into the slot and pushed the button for the penthouse. I recognized the apartment as a demigod safe complex. I was pretty sure this was where Percy's Mom lives or used to live. I hope we don't run into her.
At the penthouse, I see a waterfall, a rockwall, and some stairs. There are three rooms under the waterfall, 4 visible rooms on top of the rockwall but I know there are probably 3 more, and the stairs lead somewhere out of sight.
"I call one of the rooms under the waterfall!" Tam, Linh and I shout at the same time. Everyone laughs and agrees. We grab our luggage and walk up to stairs that lead to the waterfall level, then we walk across the bridge that connects the bedrooms to the stairs. The waterfall hides the bridge and makes the bedrooms look fuzzy. We each choose a different bedroom. Mine had peacock blue walls, a black king-sized bed with green, blue, black and purple swirls on the sheets. It reminded me of Hera. Wait a minute, demigod safe complex, Hera looking bedroom, one of my old friends in the lobby, this had Greek gods written all over it. I heard a door creak open as I sunk onto the bed.
"Nevaeh? What's wrong?" Tam asked. I look up to see him standing by a hidden door that connects our rooms.
"Oralie lied. The Council didn't buy this for us. The gods did." I answer.
"What do you mean?" He walks over and sits next to me.
"Which goddess does my room make you think of?" I say, instead of answering his question. Tam and Linh had studied the Greek myths when I told them about my past, and they had them memorized.
"Hera." He said immediately.
"Right. One of my old 'friends' was the lady at the front desk. Her name is Clarisse, she's a daughter of Ares. I've told you about her. This complex is demigod safe, meaning no monsters can get into here."
"Yeah, you're right, I would hail Oralie or Liora and see if your hypothesis is correct. You probably are but just to be sure." I nod and dig out my imparter.
"Hail Oralie." She picks up.
"Hey Nevaeh. What's up?""Um… Olympus." I joke but then turn serious. "Did the gods buy this place?" She sighs.
"Yeah. How long did it take for you to figure that out?"
"About five minutes after stepping into the Penthouse." She sighs again.
"Darn. Liora gets to give one dare to each of us." I hear cheering in the background.
"Don't do anything stupid!" I call to Liora before hanging up. "Alright, as much as I love you, you gotta leave before you get caught." I lightly shove Tam back towards the door he came through. He laughs, kisses me on the cheek and says:
"I love you too." Then he walks back to his room. I went downstairs after a minute and found everyone gathered in the sitting area. I take a seat next to Tam.
"So, what are we going to do?" Linh asks.
"Truth or dare?" Biana suggests. Everyone nods except Sophie, Tam and I. We just groan, knowing we're outnumbered. "I'll go first. Tam, Truth or Dare?"
"Truth." He replies, I tap his hand out of sight in approval. You never know what you're going to get with Biana and dares.
"Hmm… okay, who do you like?" I snort, classic Biana.
"I like no one but I love someone." He looks at me out of the corner of his eye. I almost smile but hold it in.
"Who do you love?"
"Already asked a question. My turn… Sophie, T or D?"
"Dare."
"Okay, I dare you to hail Edaline and ask her to conjure us some mallowmelt. But each person can only have one slice." She nods and hails Edaline. The mallowmelt poofs into existence 2 minutes later and everyone except me takes one slice.
"Do I have to?" I whisper to Tam. He shakes his head no. I dislike mallowmelt, it's too gooey. "Oh thank the gods." I eat some ambrosia. My dog, Hades, trots over, curious at what the smell is because usually we don't have it at the house. "Everyone, this is my dog, Hades. He's both a pet and an emotional support dog. If you harm anyone he loves, he'll rip you to pieces." I'm joking when I say that but everyone except Bo, Ro, Tam and Linh doesn't know that. They look horrified. I laugh and Ro and Bo join. "Geez, can't you take a joke?" Fitz scowls at me.
"That wasn't funny Nevaeh." He mutters.
"You're not funny if you don't think that was funny, Fitzroy. Lighten up a bit" I retort. Darn it, my mischievous side is coming out. I'm letting my guard down too much. I steel myself before setting an emotionless mask back on my face. There are 14 slices of mallowmelt left after they each eat one.
"Nevaeh, will you go hide it in your room?" Tam puts the top on the container and holds it out to me when I nod. I take it and put it on a shelf in my closet. Then, I walk back down stairs to find it's still Sophie's turn.
"Did you wait for me?" I ask, confused. "Why?" Linh laughs.
"We did wait for you. Nevaeh, truth or dare?" Sophie says. Oh, that's why they waited for me. "Dare."
"Okay, I dare you to… tell us your story."
Sophie's POV
When I say the dare, she flinches and starts shaking. Hades gets up from his position at her feet and barks one sharp bark. The room gets darker and Hades barks again and the lighting is back to normal. She's still shaking and when she looks up, I see that her eyes are filled with tears. When she speaks, I jump.
"No." Her voice is dark. Then suddenly, she starts sobbing. "No… no, I won't." She sounds… broken. What happened in her past that made her start crying whenever someone mentions it? She stood up and got something from her pocket. It was square and looked like a lemon bar. After eating it, she took a deep breath. "Listen up guys, cause I'm only saying this once. I will not tell you my story so don't ask me to again. All you need to know is that I have friends that are powerful, I used to live in New York and I knew my way around Goode. At one point, I went there for about a week. An old friend used to go there and probably still does. I can't play anymore. Good-bye." Then, with tears still streaming down her face, she ran up to her room. Ro and Bo glared at us before running after her. Tam spoke first.
"Sophie, why did you have to ask that? Didn't the Council say that she would tell her story when she was ready?" Oh shoot. I forgot about that. I nod my head at the same time that Fitz says:
"No. They didn't." We look at eachother.
"Well, they told me. I don't think they told her."
Tam's POV
I saw the moment Nevaeh had shut herself off from them. She had become a person with no emotions. I guess I do that too but it was always hard to watch Nevaeh do it. She was always so careful and untrusting. It's hard to see her so… fragile like but also like steel. She was unbendable, she was unbreakable because she had already been broken by her supposed-to-be old friends. Now, she just shut herself off from everyone but a few people.
I heard Sophie ask Nevaeh about her past. Is she crazy? Obviously Nevaeh didn't want to talk about her past at the meeting so why would she now? I watch as Nevaeh's mask falls away and pure sadness crosses her face. I can't do anything to comfort her yet and it hurts in my heart.
Now, the Council needs to be notified that she had a spell. I hope she's going to be okay. Being in New York had already put her on edge. Meeting Clarisse didn't help with that and the same goes for finding out who bought this place. Now, with Sophie asking about her past, she finally snapped. This is bad. Very, very bad. Last time she had a spell, it took two days for her to calm down. Luckily, today is a Saturday so she has the rest of today and tomorrow to calm down. I watched as she ran up before glaring at them and standing up. "Look, I have to go call somebody. I'll see you guys soon." I run up to my room, grab my imparter and walk through the connecting door to Nevaeh's room. I see her sitting on her bed with Ro. Bo was standing in the corner talking to someone. Nevaeh was sobbing and when I walked over, only Ro looked up. She smiled slightly and said:
"Bo is talking to my father. Are you going to call one of your councilors?"
"Yeah, do you want to go back downstairs?" She nodded in answer to my question.
"Yeah but I'll wait for Bo." She got off the bed and walked over to Bo. I took her spot and Nevaeh leaned into my shoulder. I put my arm around her waist and pulled her so close that she was practically sitting on my lap. She cried into my shoulder and I put my other arm around her as well.
"Tammy… why did this have to… have to happen?" She asked, her voice muffled by my shoulder. She was the only person that I allowed to call me 'Tammy'.
"I don't know Sweetheart. Do you want to call the Council?" I saw Ro and Bo walk out of the room from the corner of my eyes. She shook her head and I smiled down at her. I grabbed my imparter from her bedside table, I had placed it there earlier, and said: "Hail Emery." He picked up almost immediately.
"Tam, what's wrong?" He asked, knowing I only called the Council if something happened to Nevaeh.
"Nevaeh had one of her spells." I responded. He cursed. "Language." He laughed but it sounded forced.
"Is it bad?"
"Pretty bad. Clarisse was at the front desk, then she figured out who actually bought this place. Finally, when we played truth or dare, Sophie dared her to tell them her story. It set her off." I watched Emery rub his forehead.
"Okay, how long do you think it'll take her to calm down?"
"Not sure. At the very least it'll take the rest of the day."
"Okay, has King Dimitar been notified?'
"Of course. Bo called him."
"Okay, good." He hung up. Nevaeh was still crying silently on my shoulder. "Hey El, are you hungry? I am so I'm gonna go grab some food. Would you like to come?" She lifts her head, wipes her tears and nods. "Okay, come on." I stand up, pulling her with me. I kiss her lips quickly before letting go of her. We walked out of the room for Lunch.
Sophie's POV
10 minutes earlier
After Tam disappeared, Linh said:
"Guys, Nevaeh is really sensitive about her past. She will tell you in her own time, don't ask again."
"You seem to know her really well." Fitz observed. "Yeah. She helped Tam and I when we were first banished. But anyway, Nevaeh, she knows a ton of things. She knows each of you, even if you don't really know her. She knows what you're not telling us Sophie but she hasn't told anyone. If she doesn't want to tell you her story then she has a great reason. She has had a sad past and has a hard time trusting people but give her time and maybe she'll tell you. If she doesn't well," Linh shrugs, "that's her choice to make. No one else's."