December 2006

Kiara waved to Hope before heaving her duffle over her shoulder. She watched as her mother's Toyota disappeared down the road. She walked the last few feet up the hill to the border. The border shimmered over her skin and a resounding feeling of home flooded her body. She looked up at the pine needles still stubbornly holding on against the season. Her hand grazed the trunk, her magic flowing through her body and out to the tree. Thalia's welcoming smile graced Kiara's mind. A hazy image of the girl appeared next to Kiara. The two sat down against the tree, Kiara focusing on the threads of her core twisting with Thalia's to give her a form. They knew from experience that the moment Kiara let go Thalia's spirit would return to her pine. Thalia breathed her first breath of air in months her shoulder brushing against Kiara's.

"How have you been?" Kiara asked, her hand trailing over the grooves of the roots next to her.

"Good. I could be better..." a brief frown flitted across her face before being wiped away. "Sorry. I should be grateful fo-"

"Nothing. I want to do this," Kiara glared at her.

The girls stared out over the camp before Thalia took advantage of her ability to speak. She updated Kiara on the goings-on at camp. Tales of Connor and Travis' latest prank and Charlotte's new bow filled the air as Kiara traced whorls and swirls into the ground. Thalia tapped her fingers against her leg, relishing in the movement. When Thalia's words slowed Kiara took up the conversation, giving the girl news of the world outside her reach. She started off by telling her the news. Kiara had her mom send her newspapers so she would be able to tell Thalia about all the crazy things the mortals got up to. Their conversation could have gone on for hours taking turns talking about the world and their dreams but, like it always did, it turned to her research.

The only reason Kiara hadn't given up on Herbology was the hope that one day she could find a way to turn back Thalia's transformation. If magic could fix broken houses and change a bird into a chair then surely it could give Thalia back her life. Kiara had spent hours looking for a solution over the years. She would stay back in class to discuss transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. She had even got Professor Davis searching with her for plants to test before he left Hogwarts. All she had hoped for was to get a hint at a starting point. That maybe, somehow she would find a spell or rune configurement that would free Thalia from her living cage.

So far it was useless. The spells either weren't powerful enough, weren't specific enough, or weren't right. Kiara tried to keep Thalia's hope up but the failed attempts were starting to discourage them both. Kiara was able to at least give Thalia more freedom. When they first met Thalia could barely send feelings to Kiara. Slowly over years of sending her magic to Thalia with spells, rune circles, and ambient magic, Thalia had gained a semi-physical form. Ever since they succeeded in giving Thalia her voice back their efforts increased. If they could get this far they were only a step away from doing it. But it wasn't all rushing and seriousness. Kiara would wake in the early mornings during her visits to camp, walk up the hill, and spend the first few hours of the day with Thalia. They would plan and talk until the breakfast bell pulled Kiara out of their peaceful bubble.

"Your brother is coming," Thalia announced breaking the quiet moment.

Kiara sighed before slowly standing up, keeping one hand on the pine. She turned to Thalia giving her a few more seconds. Thalia looked up at the sky, took a deep breath, and then nodded at Kiara.

"I'll come back in the morning. I promise," Kiara whispered.

She slowly pulled her hand away from the tree and watched as Thalia began to fade. Kiara felt a bubbling anger every time Thalia was forced back into her tree. How come Zeus couldn't do better? She waited for the sky to rumble but it stayed peacefully clear. Maybe Zeus agreed with her.

A joyful shout carried Kiara back to the present as Will's gangly legs barreled him up the hill. She sent one last warm flush of magic into Thalia's trunk and to her core. Her leaves seemed to shimmer in the sun as Kiara ran down to meet her brother.

"Will!" Kiara called scooping him up. The top of his beanie brushed her shoulder. "Oh, you're so big. Soon you're gonna have to pick me up."

"Don't be silly," he giggled falling back to the ground, "That's Lee's job. He has to carry everyone. We just have to fix them."

Kiara's smile grew fond as her littlest brother rambled on. Kiara dimly heard his story as she was hit with overwhelming adoration for him. She grabbed his swinging arms and gave him another squeeze.

"What's that for?" Will wiggled trying to get free.

Kiara loosened her hold. "I just really missed you."

"Whatever, common"

Will took advantage of her grip to pull her down the hill. A laugh burst out of Kiara's chest at his enthusiasm. They tumbled and twisted down the hill jumping over roots and past bushes. As they neared the main campground Kiara slowed. She grinned at Will's grumbles about stopping. The happiness that had been infused into her the moment he appeared seemed endless.

At the more sedate pace, they passed by the Art and Crafts Building waving at the campers strangely covered in paint. The canoe lake was still, no splashing children on its waters. Camp was less busy during the downtime of the year but there were still at least fifty campers wandering around. At the edge of the forest, the Demeter Cabin was teaching a few campers how to camouflage themselves in the snow. With just a glance Kiara could see they did not understand it. There were half-hidden bodies littering the area. Katie Gardener was shouting at those she could see. Will snickered at a boy hiding behind a bush. He scurried over and leaned down.

"You're gonna be found," he stage whispered before scampering away.

The boy, Sherman Yang now that Kiara recognized his noticeable hair, sat up to argue with Will only to be spotted by Katie. The siblings rushed away before the angry girl found them.

Once within the safety of the cabins, Will tumbled into the snow laughing until he could barely breathe.

"Did you see his face? He was like 'Ahh she's gonna kill me!'" Will exclaimed between laughs.

Kiara rolled her eyes at his antics before looking out over the cabins. The area was mostly empty, most of the campers probably doing their activities of hiding indoors. Over by Cabin eight, there was a cluster of kids. The younger campers were making snowmen in the snow that had been allowed to fall. Will ran off leaving Kiara by the campfire to the other kids. Kiara laughed at the fickle attention of the ten-year-old. She settled against the warmth of Hesita's domain. The cold that had begun to seep into her clothes dissipated as a tender force covered her in a blanket of comfort. Kiara sent a brief prayer of thanks to the goddess leaning into her presence.

A loud call brought her attention to the cheerful kids waving her over. Kiara grimaced at the cold trickling down her arms once away from the warmth. She walked over to them, the snowman was mostly complete and for some reason had a full coat on. She looked over the kids before seeing one stubbornly trying not to shiver in the cold.

"Why did you guys take George's jacket?" Kiara set down her bag sifting through it to find a sweater to give the freezing child of Ares.

"They didn't take it. Harold needed one. Mine was the only one that fit," George grumbled trying to escape the large knitted sweater Kiara had forced him into.

His head popped out with a scowl but at least he looked less cold. A few of the kids giggled at the sleeves trailing near his knees. She shook her head trying to focus on fixing the sweater instead of how adorable the child was. George would not be happy with that description. The kids began telling her about their year as she pulled George's arms towards her and rolled up his sleeves.

"I grew a sunflower!" Camille told Kiara before pushing their twin away as he tried to put snow down their back.

"Well, I rode a pegasus over the lake," Daniel announced jumping in front of them.

"Will and I climbed a tree and hid there so long Lee started freaking out," Charlotte, their resident escape artist, announced.

"Yeah, sure but what I did was better-" Alexandra started rambling, jumping up and down.

Kiara laughed at their enthusiasm, "Kiddos. Chill. You can tell me everything later. We have the whole week. Let's try to finish Harold now before we have to go inside."

The kids perked up at the reminder of their snow friend. The seven kids stumbled over to Harold. Camille climbed onto a pile of snow and began bossing the kids around. Kiara watched them before a tug on her pants reminded her of the eighth child playing in the snow.

A tiny two-year-old reaching his arms up to her asking for one thing, "Up."

His grubby hands, peaking out of his tiny parka, grabbed empty air as he begged to be picked up. Kiara set down her bag in an area that was mostly clear of snow. It would be a disaster if her clothes got wet. She scooped the small child who was more like a green puffy marshmallow than a kid at the moment. Harley snuggled into her arms seemingly satisfied now that he was picked up. She was a little worried that he was out without someone watching him but there wasn't much that could harm a toddler guarded by a mess of kids. Beckendorf probably let him out for a few minutes. It was adorable watching the lumbering boy gently hold a toddler while he explained the advantages of hand-powered vs electrical tools. Still, they could get into all sorts of trouble without supervision. Whoever was watching them must have left them alone to do something and was surely on their way back.

She could watch them until someone came back. It was not going to be too much of a hassle. She loved watching them but she wanted to get settled in before Lee's pre-solstice jitters kicked in.

Kiara rubbed Harley's back, his little face peering up at her. His warmth spread through his jacket and Kiara clutched him tighter. She gave one more glace at the kids and deemed them all right for the time being. Harley squirmed in her arms annoyed at her lack of attention. As if to punish her Harley's arm reached up and grabbed her hair. Kiara winced as she was reminded that no matter how cute Harley looked he was a tiny hellion.

"No Harley. That's not nice." Kiara moved him to one arm and tried to pry his hand open.

"Mine," he insisted, gripping her hair tighter.

"Harley, honey I need my hair back." Kiara looked around herself for anything she could distract the stubborn toddler with. As she kept subtly prying her hair away her hand brushed her camp necklace brushed.

"How about I give you this?" Kiara let go of his hand and with much struggle removed her necklace.

She reclasped it before swaying it in front of Harley's face. His eyes brightened at the thing. Reluctantly he let go of Kiara's hair and snatched the necklace. Kiara kept hold of the clasp, worried about him hurting himself with it. Harley's other hand, which had been grasping onto her jacket, joined in to play with the beads. Kiara sighed in relief at the averted disaster. Her shoulders relaxed as she watched his exploration of the beads. She grew as engaged as Harley by the necklace. The slide of the beads back and forth brought Kiara into an almost meditative state.

Screaming forced her to pay attention to the terrors again. Tearing her eyes away from Harley and his calm presence she looked over at the kids. Alexandra, Will, and Daniel were peacefully making another snowman. Harold seemed to be completed with a hat that Kiara was sure had been on Alexandra's head a moment ago, but that was a problem for later. Charlotte was nowhere to be seen. George was watching the chaos next to him with a suspicious grin on his face. The chaos was Mason and Camille as always. Mason shouting at his twin and Camille was running around with his hat in their hand. Camille slowed down as if to let Mason catch them only to race away. Kiara could see Mason's face getting redder and redder. The keep-away was growing out of control and from experience Kiara knew that if she didn't intervene soon there would be tears. She slipped Harley to her hip relinquishing the necklace to him and raced over to the scene. She placed herself in front of Camille's path and waited. With a fast snatch, she had the hat back in her hand. Her victory was short-lived flanked by a fuming child on one side and another near tears on the other. Kiara was going to have a talking to with whoever left the kids without supervision.

"Camille. Stop it. Leave Mason alone."

"But," they protested.

Kiara knew what she would say. "It doesn't matter what he did first you should both know better."

Kiara wished Bryan was here. He was the only non-Apollo child in Cabin 7, as a son of Leto. While some half-bloods gained their parent's godly power, Bryan received his mother's temperament and skill. They often worked together to watch the kids. With no one coming to help, Kiara sent a brief prayer to Leto for this to go well.


Things are a little crazy in the real world but I am trying to get the next chapter(s) up and ready for the upcoming weeks.

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

- Natalie