No Turning Back

Chapter 5: Coming Home

“Yeah...” I nodded, still freaked out by this ship.

^^^

Apparently we weren’t prisoners. Leo, the captain who had built the ship, was just joking. Katia and I settled in well. The other demigods were really nice, and some of them were even from Camp Jupiter. One girl, Hazel, had actually given up Elysium so that her mom wouldn’t go to the Fields of Punishment. 

“Luckily, Nico got me out of there.”

“Nico,” I asked desperately, “Is he okay?”

Hazel replied, “Why do you care?”

Katia, as usual, rescued me, “He’s her little brother.”

Hazel’s eyes got wide. “You’re Bianca diAngelo?”

I nodded.

“He’s okay. Just devastated after your-” No one could ever say it. Even Katia and I were afraid of the word. “Nico went back once the doors were open, but you weren’t there. He found me instead.”

Oh. Okay. It’s nice that he still remembers me.

^^^

Other than Hazel, Percy, and Annabeth, none of the other seven knew or cared about Katia and my past. They were all tired after their quest to save the world from the giants, so I didn’t really care. Katia did, but Katia’s Katia, no matter what happens.

^^^

Red light flickered through the tiny window of Hazel’s room. I walked out to the deck of the Argo II. I caught my breath. It was so beautiful. THe sun rose from the end of the land that seemed more like the end of a flat world. Water rippled reflecting the scarlet light. I turned around to see Leo sitting on a deck chair. He motioned to the seat next to him. I settled down next to him.

“You like Hazel, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” Leo didn’t sound as enthusiastic as usual.

“Why are you up so early?” I asked him.

He shrugged, “It feels so nice to be back home.”

Yet again, my breath caught in my throat as I truly looked around to see the shores of Camp Half Blood. A storm of half bloods flooded out of their cabins to see us. “Leo!” some shouted. A single, high pitched voice called, “You survived!”

Wow. I’d never known how popular these demigods were.

^^^

I settled in fine. After seeing Chiron, I went to live in Cabin 13. As I walked up to the door and knocked, an angry voice sounded, “Hazel, you know you don’t have to knock.”

“Well,” I replied to Nico, “what if I’m not Hazel?”

The door opened, and there standing before me was Nico. He looked older than before, but there was something more. Behind his eyes, I could see a wisdom he had never had before, the kind that you get from seeing too many people die. His brown hair was still long and uneven, but he was just... different.

“Bianca?”

“Yes Nico?”

“How?” he asked. “Just, how?”

I smiled, “Oh Nico, haven’t you ever heard of half rebirth?”

He let me in and I chose a bed.

“I had never thought there would be more than just me here,” Nico said.

I smiled a sort of half smile, and then began unpacking. The room was cozy, yet, of course, only a child of Hades could really think that. It was made of all black obsidian, with one bed and two cots dragged in from the Hermes’ cabin. The inside was lit eerily with Greek fire torches since there were no windows, and the room was cold. See what I mean? Cozy.

At last it was time for a traditional Camp Half Blood dinner. I met up with Katia who was staying in the Hermes cabin. I whispered to her, “Do they know you aren’t a demigod?”

“No,” she replied. “But, I am a distant descendant of a god. However, it is said that after ten generations, you no longer have the power or smell of a demigod. I was always teased by my so-called friends. That’s why I didn’t tell anyone how distant I was.”

As we neared the dining hall, Connor Stoll collected Katia and the other new campers and showed them their table, so I couldn’t say another word.

Dinner went well. I sat with Nico and Hazel, and we engaged in a conversation that had nothing to do with the quest, the Underworld, or anything else that was relevant. We really just rambled on and on about nothing.

Tonight during campfire, we were singing songs like usual. The fire changed from bright red to a slightly lighter red orange, to eventually a yellow as the campers got bored of singing the songs. Soon, Chiron began the announcements.

“Today, we rejoice as the seven campers who set out on a quest during June have come back.” He paused as everyone clapped and cheered. “We also have collected two new demigods, Bianca, daughter of Hades, and Katia-” Chiron was cut off as a huge wave of water sloshed over the edge of the bleachers and flooded the fire, putting it out in seconds. All of the campers (except Percy, of course) were freaking out because they were wet. Katia, however, just sat there, looking shocked, as if she had done this. Slowly but surely, a trident blinked into existence above her head. Chiron bowed down to her and said, “All hail Katia, daughter of Poseidon.”