The Unclaimed

Chapter 46: Desperate desires call for desperate measures

   Things were starting to clear up for Michael. Yes he still felt extremely confused almost all the time and the majority of his memory was still blurry, but things weren't as bad as they had been at the start of the week. Ever since his conversation with Chiron the other morning, his brain hurt less and less every time he tried to remember his sister. The issue was that his brain went from excruciating pain to just slightly less excruciating pain.  His siblings from the Hermes cabin, along with all of the other campers and everyone else at the camp, kept telling him to relax. That his memory would be back in "due time" and that everything would be all right. But Michael couldn't wait any longer. He needed answers, even just a few would be better than none. As Michael got lost in thought, he found himself wandering around the edge of the camps border. He came across a familiar looking house. Walking up the front steps of it, Michael knocked on the door. After two knocks the door swung open and Michael was met with a concerned looking son of Hades.
   "Michael what are you doing here alone," Nico questioned.
   "Can I come in," Michael asked him. "I have some questions." Nico ushered him inside.
   "Who was at the door Nico," Will Solace appeared in the hallway. The moment he saw Michael, a look of understanding came onto his face. "I'm guessing you have some questions, don't you?" Michael nodded. He looked around the familiar hallway. "We used to come here a lot, didn't we." When neither Will or Nico spoke, Michael looked up at the two of them. They were sharing a puzzled look.
   "Who do you mean by we?" Nico asked slowly.
   "Jessica and I," Michael said softly. "We used to spend time here didn't we?" This time the answer came quickly.
   "Yes," Will said. "You and Jessica used to visit us all of the time. She hated spending time around the other campers and you hated spending time without her, coming here was a win-win situation for both of you." Michael felt his heart swell with love for the sister he could barely remember.
   "Tell me more," he instructed the pair.
   "I'm not sure if that's the best idea," Will said. "It might be smarter if you just waited until your memory came back." Michael felt shocked. The last thing he had expected was this, he thought that the two would take his side and support him.
   "I don't care what the smarter move is," Michael said loudly. "I've spent the last five days feeling lost. I know something is missing from my life and I'm even starting to remember who that someone is. But you know what, this recognition is more painful than not knowing was. Because now that I know, all I want is to remember. Is that really to much to want." Michael had tears flowing freely down his face. As Will and Nico looked down at him, they both realized just how miserable he was.
   "Fine," Will breathed out. Michael looked up, full of hope. "We'll answer a few questions." Realizing that they would probably be there for a bit, they moved the conversation into the living room.
   "What do you want to know?" Nico asked Michael. Michael bit back his temptation to respond by saying everything. He knew that to do so would be pushing his luck. Michael took a minute to think of his most important curiosities, the questions that he knew he couldn't wait any longer to have answered. 
   "What's she like," he asked them. "What's my sisters personality like?" Will and Nico shared a look as they tried to figure out the best way to describe Jessica.
   "She's definitely one of a kind," Will began. "I have honestly never met anyone even close to like her. She is a stubborn but kind person." Nico stepped into the conversation.
   "It's important to add that you're her whole world." Will nodded in agreement to this statement. "She has always put your happiness in front of her own, your safety in front of hers, and so on. Jessica would rather die than let something bad happen to you." The more he heard of his sister, the more the image Jessica in his head seemed to solidify.
   "On the outside, to most people she can seem really cold and harsh," Will admitted to Michael. "But if you're lucky enough that she let's you in, you know that she is far from mean. She cares about others and loves life, she just never had a fair chance to show it to all of the other campers." This answer prompted Michael to ask another question.
   "What does that mean?" He asked Will. "Why did she never had a fair chance?" This was a much harder question for the two adults to answer. It was much more complex than than just describing her personality. This question involved answers that the two of them still didn't have.
   "That's complicated," Nico said truthfully. Michael shrugged and crossed his arms. "I guess it important to start with the fact that the two of you are only half siblings. Which is something that you did not find out until you got to camp. You were claimed by Hermes but Jessica was not. She wasn't claimed by anyone." Nico let Will take over.
   "Jessica is also blessed by Artemis," he told Michael. "The blessing of Artemis is extremely rare so this made her even more of an outside. As time passed and she still wasn't claimed, she became an outcast. She was only happy around you. It got to the point where she started doing training by herself." Michael felt guilty.
   "Why didn't I do anything to help her," he felt awful. "I may be younger but why didn't I defend her?" Both Will and Nico immediately started shaking their heads at Michael.
   "Don't talk like that's," Nico said quickly. "You tried to help her and you did help her. You were the light of her life when everything else seemed dark to her. The only reason she was ever really happy was because of you." Michael took in what Nico was saying but he still felt like his sisters misery was his fault. Will could see this and decided to speak up.
   "Listen, I'm going to let you in on a secret that I'm certain Jessica would not want me to tell you but I think you deserve to know." Michael looked up at him, curious. "There was a time when things were so bad in Jessica's life that she was rarely seen by anyone. She was only ever in the cabin when she had to be and she attended none of her lessons. You knew that something was wrong and you talked to her about it. You said you'd rather leave camp and just be on the run with her than to see her be this miserable. She told you that you guys should take some time to think about it. During that time she came to us." Nico seemed to pick up on where Will was heading with this. "Jessica was touched by your offer but she didn't want to let you make that sacrifice for her. She struck up deals with the other campers to get them to be nice to her whenever you were around. She started being more social. Jessica felt awful about manipulating you but she did it to try and keep you happy. So you can't blame yourself for everything that's happened to her." Even though he couldn't remember it, something about the scene that Will described sounded extremely familiar to Michael. He was about to say something when frantic pounding on the front door was heard. Nico stood up, excused himself, and then went to answer the door. Voices were heard and then multiple pairs of footsteps were headed towards the room. Nico was the first to enter the room, behind him were two of Michaels siblings.
   "Michael," disapproval rang through Nico's voice. "Would you care to explain why you came here without telling anyone where you were? You just caused massive panic down at camp because no one could find you." Michael didn't let his gaze from Nico falter. He felt bad for scaring everyone but he also felt like they had it coming.
   "I needed answers and no one would give them to me." It was his siblings turn to look guilty.
   "We're just trying to protect you," his sister Maria said. Michael shrugged.
   "I hope you got the answers you wanted," his brother Francis said. "Because this was the last bit of wandering around for you. Chiron has assigned a buddy system for you until your memory  comes back, and it's starting now." Michael rolled his eyes but stood up to join his siblings. He didn't care that he was stuck with a buddy system. Michael had gotten the answers that he needed and the rest would be back in less than 48 hour drive. He knew he could last until then.