The Moon and the Stars || Heroes of Olympus

Chapter 27

I didn't remember much about the rest of the night. We told our story and answered a million questions from the other campers, but finally Chiron saw how tired we were and ordered us to go to bed.

I was so exhausted and my body ached so much that I lay down on the bed without even bothering to change out of my filthy clothes. It felt so good to sleep in a real bed, and I was so tired that I fell asleep immediately. For the first time in a while, I wasn't plagued by nightmares.

-Ω-

I woke up to sunlight streaming through the window - I'd forgotten to close the curtains the night before. The clock on the table beside my bed told me that it was far too early to be awake by my standards, but I got up anyway. If I let myself go back to sleep I'd never wake up.

I headed to the shower to wash off all of the blood and dirt from the battles with Enceladus and Porphyrion. Just before I stepped in, a note on my hand caught my eye.

Bell 412.

I'd written it before our battle with Porphyrion to remind me to buy the nice ranger lady a new helicopter. I rummaged through the drawers to find a pen and something to write on. A few minutes and many unused birthday cards later, I found a notebook and some pens and scribbled it down, before stepping into the bathroom to wash.

-Ω-

Once I was showered and dressed, I looked around the plain room I was staying in. There was a bed, a dresser and a side table in the spare bedroom, all a honey brown colour. Pretty simple, not much character, not very me. That needs to change.

I headed downstairs in search of Chiron, to ask if I could get some of my stuff from home soon. I'd searched the whole of the downstairs and couldn't find him, though I did throw Seymour - the living mounted head of a leopard - a snausage, so I headed upstairs and eventually ended up in the attic.

Chiron wasn't there - I doubt he could get up the ladder, being a centaur and all - but there were plenty of interesting items to examine. The walls were lined with pickled monster heads in jars, which didn't interest me much. There were plenty of old used weapons like a dented shield on the wall and two scimitars bent in the shape of the letter M with green stains, presumably from poison. The label on it read SCIMTAR OF KAMPE, DESTROYED IN THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH. I didn't touch them.

A floaty pink scarf caught my eye. It smelled floral, like roses or mountain laurel. I picked up the tag and read it: SCARF OF THE GODDESS APHRODITE
Recovered at Waterland, Denver, Co.
by Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson

What was Aphrodite's scarf doing in a water park in Denver? Doesn't seem like the type of place she'd visit often.

I looked out the window, tall pines stood at the edge of the forest with dryads darting between them. One dryad, however, stood still, leaning against one of the trees with her arms crossed, while a pair of tiny young blonde demigods chased each other around in circles. She had dark brown curly hair and skin of a slightly lighter shade. We made eye contact and her hand beckoned me towards her.

I climbed down from the attic, and ran down the stairs to meet her, nearly tripping over the children.

"Sorry, kids." I reached my hand out to the dryad. Or should I say half-dryad. "You must be Ash."

The sun caught her irises, turning them a dark amber. "And you must be Neo. I was hoping to meet you."

"Well, here I am." I ran a hand through my hair. "The one and only Neo Dare, daughter of Selene."