Battles of Darkness and Strife

Here We Come

Nico POV

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Chey and I were playing around with gummy worms on my cabin porch when Damian White came up to us. He looked slightly terrified, but whatever.

"Chiron wants to see you in the Big House," he said hurriedly.

Chey glares at him. "Why?"

Damian takes a step back. "I don't know, he just does." Chey waves him away and looks at me exasperatedly.

"I hope this isn't about the bathroom incident, because Sherman was asking for it," Chey frowns.

"What bathroom incident?"

"Never mind. Come on." Chey grabs my hand and pulls me up and we start walking to the Big House. Along the way, we see Leo and Merrily heading in the same direction.

Chey and I fall into stride with Merrily and Leo. Chiron called us to the Big House for some reason and we don't know why.

"Where are you headed?" Merrily asks.

"Big House," I reply. "Chiron summoned us."

Leo jerks his chin. "Same here." That's slightly alarming. We pick up the pace a little bit and enter the Big House. Inside is Ryan, Abigail, Taylor and David, Chiron and a strange lady.

Chey's eyebrows dart up. "What are you guys doing here? And who the fuck are you?" The lady in question stands up. She has dark eyes, dark hair, and a very pale face. The look on her face was thunderous and I am now fairly certain the lady my lovely girlfriend just cussed at, is a goddess. I slowly place my hand over my girlfriend's mouth.

"I am Hecate, goddess of the Mist." Hecate's voice echoed around the room. Chey looked slightly constipated and I could see Merrily shaking her head.

"Oh," David said from behind her. "Well, I'm sure she didn't realize." Hecate looked very irritated so I made a quiet motion so hopefully, no one would say anything that would get us killed.

"We apologize Lady Hecate," Abigail placated her politely. "What brings you here today?"

Hecate's face visibly softened. "I have a quest for you." Immediately, I felt a surge of anger. Another quest? How dare she? There were a ton of other demigods that hadn't gotten a quest yet, and she chooses us? It turned out, though, that I was not alone in my opinion.

"Another quest?" Leo roared. "Haven't we had enough?"

Hecate sighed, though whether it was from anger or exasperation, it was hard to tell. "I need experienced demigods for this, and demigods that work well as a team. Since the original seven are unavailable, and you seven seem to have grown closer, I thought it was for the best."

"Best for you, or best for us?" David snapped.

Hecate glared. "Believe me, I don't want a quest like this one any more than you. May I explain the quest first?"

David opened his mouth to protest, but Merrily cut him a glare and David proceeded to brood in a corner. Although, I can't judge because I'm fairly certain that my face looks much the same.

Hecate takes a deep breath and continues. "As most of you know, I am the goddess of magic. While Olympus was centered in Europe during the late 900's, some of my descendants discovered a different power, per se. Their magic was about as advanced as my daughter, Lou Ellen's. But as time wore on, I did stop having children for a time and so my children had children and so on. These children found that while their magic was greatly watered down, they could channel most of it through sticks, that are now called wands."