Demigod Diaries: The Mad Usurper

CHAPTER XV - LOUISE

You know the saying that silence is deafening? I should be deaf by now. There was a lot of dead air on our way back to Camp Half-Blood and one thing I'm not used to is too much silence, so I tried to start a conversation.

"So Annabeth, the resort's design seemed nice, right?" I asked.

"Mhmm," she silently replied.

She had been unusually quiet and gloomy. Was it because their vacation was cut short? In hopes of making the mood lighter, I turned to Percy and tried to talk to him.

"How was the beach Percy? I hear the resort provides a nice view of the sunset," I asked him.

"It was fine," he replied bluntly.

The other campers with me seemed to have noticed the strange silence between the two lovers. They usually argue or talk with each other along the way but this situation seemed different. Something major must have happened.

I turned to the girl who was riding with me, "Your name is Kim, right?" She nodded in reply.

"Who's your god parent and where are you from?" I continued. She turned away shyly. I must have hit a sensitive topic.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to ask you something so personal," I apologized immediately.

There was a long silence before Macy, daughter of Apollo, started another topic. Macy has a brownish, short hair with yellow highlights. Her breasts are unusually big for her age, that's what they say. "Percy, Annabeth, I heard that some of your old friends are at camp. I saw Nico and Leo yesterday."

"Really?" Annabeth replied with interest. Finally, the silence was broken.

"Yeah. Nico was attacked by some sort of creature. Unusually, he didn't seem to be in pain. We had a hard time controlling the bleeding. It was a good thing that Leo with Nico's new brother, Aaron, were able to rush him into the infirmary," she spoke extemporaneously.

"Nico has a new brother? How old is he?" Percy asked. It seemed the mood started to lighten up a bit.

"He's fourteen. That's what he said," she replied. "Why?"

"I thought the Big Three created a pact not to make children after World War II. How was he able to remain hidden?" Annabeth intervened. Percy didn't seem to be offended.

"Maybe by using the same method that dad used on me," Percy replied while looking at Annabeth, expecting a reply out of curiosity but Annabeth didn't say anything.

Soon, we arrived at Camp Half-Blood just in time for lunch. After eating, a few of us were called to the Big House for a 'private meeting'. Of course, it was discreet so the other campers will not be so suspicious. The heroes of camp were here, so were the councilors of each cabin, Kim, and Rachel. The ones who seem out of place are Rose from the Demeter cabin, Macy from the Apollo cabin, Nico's brother Aaron, and me. We sat around a long table with Chiron sitting in the middle. I was seated beside Aaron as ordered. At times, I would catch him looking at me but he would immediately look at another direction. Psh. Men.

There were two people I didn't recognize. One had a blonde hair with blue eyes. He looked lax and arrogant at first but he seems to be sociable especially with Percy and the others but he was cold towards Nico who was on a wheelchair. The other one sat beside the blonde guy. She had a brown skin and some braids on her hair. She seemed to have a charm in her smile whenever she talked with others. She was sitting beside Percy and they seem kind of sweet. Percy would smile from time to time but I can't help but notice the sadness lingering in his face. Annabeth showed disgust when she turned and saw the girl and Percy talking.