Arrival of the Ghost King [PJO x HP]

XIV: Inanimate Objects Become Not-Inanimate

Bella was expecting the campers to be relieved that the day had finally come and they could be restored to their former glory. A little bit of interest, at the very least. Not the words that followed:

"Who cares?"

Bella was thrown. "What?" she said in shock.

"I don't care. We don't care. Before your little curse, sister," the camper who had first spoken responded, "we were already not respected. We were loved, well-liked, but certainly not respected."

The Aphrodite camper who had spoken was the oldest in the cabin, not including Bella of course. His name was Nathan, and he was a couple years younger than Bella. She hadn't really talked to him much- he was already at camp when she came, and there was a weird relationship between campers that arrived earlier, but were younger than the older campers who arrived later.

"Sure, you may have not been completely respected, but it is surely better than lying in bed and doing nothing all day!" Bella exclaimed.

"You do know that I'm not doing this for myself, I'm doing this for you! Well, actually, this is all for one of your siblings who is in danger and may very well expose the demigod world to a group whose minds can't be wiped by the Mist!" At that point Bella was shouting.

"Why choose us?" another camper shouted. "I'm sure the Ares cabin could easily complete the task." Before

"Because," Bella hissed, "thanks to Nemesis, I am now a goddess, albeit a minor one. I cannot interfere in the lives of demigods, but I still can give out quests. The gods don't want Nemesis to make any more gods or goddesses like herself, and so my godly status is a guarded secret. Therefore, I can only give you the quests, since you are my siblings by ichor, and that is not a breach of secret."

Nathan arched an eyebrow. "And why should we take on this quest? The Aphrodite cabin is not affected by monsters, so whatever this 'group' is, they won't be able to track us down by following the monsters."

"The group has other means of doing things," Bella said. "With a single word they summon you right to them, and with two more they can kill you." She almost shuddered. With the current leadership of the Ministry of Magic and the Magical Congress of the United States of America, the order to exterminate the demigods (and maybe even the gods, somehow) would certainly be given.

"Can't you just blow the group up, since you're apparently a goddess?" a camper suggested.

"I am betting that they are under surveillance by Hecate, and when she wonders why a good chunk of them disappeared, she'll trace it back to me, which means that she'll find out that I am goddess blessed by Nemesis, which means the secret is out." Bella said. "So no, I can't blast them into oblivion."

"Alright," sighed Nathan, "we're doing the quest. How many people are needed?"

"Three, including me," said Bella. "I know I can't participate in quests, but I'll be helping you as much as I can, by giving information. The quest itself is just a simple break-in and springing a prisoner- that's your sibling that's been keeping the secret, if you can't tell already. Nothing much."

"Springing a prisoner? How is that supposed to be simple?!" one of the campers cried.

"Compared to a normal quest: very easy. First off, this one is only one night away from camp, since I'll be providing you with information to speed the process up. Second, you don't have to trek across the country, I'll be providing the transportation. And this doesn't involve slaying any monsters, either."

"Okay, who will be the two campers going with her?" Nathan asked. Bella noticed that he didn't use her name.

Nathan was met with silence.