Book 5 - The Last Olympian
Over the next few weeks, it was crazy. Ayden couldn't go back to the cabin to talk with the other conduits because she was afraid the gods would find out and get to them before time. She'd lied to their faces about not finding them over the past couple of months. She didn't want to involve them in any of the drama with the Olympians.
Charles had come up with a plan to blow up the Princess Andromeda. He wanted to have Percy go with him. Ayden offered herself, but he'd denied her. The other cabin leaders had denied her as well. She and Clarisse shared the title of cabin leader. Since they both had differing opinions.
Dionysus was called away to fight the giant titan that was escaping from the mountains. Typhon. He was the one person who had loosened his holdings when he blew up one of Hepahaestus's workshops so that Kronos couldn't make his weapons.
Ayden was told by Annabeth more information on the titan. He was the husband of Echidna. She'd met her years ago on the other quest. Ayden had fought the woman and scared her into retreating. No one else knew that other than Ayden.
"Wait so who are we grabbing?" Annabeth asked. Ayden put her finger to her lips as they teleported just outside of the cabin. There was a large explosion just behind the cabin. "What is that?"
"This is where the primordials stay," Ayden grabbed her arm bringing her forward. She saw the tail of Nimbus as it moved to the side moving dirt with it.
"Ayden?"
"Nim?" Ayden scratched the dragon's scales. It turned around and blew smoke a her face. She smiled and waved her hand clearing the smoke.
"Aydens here!" Blair cheered. She was sitting on the porch with Chaos. Aion, Knox, Esme, Dean, and Charlotte were out in the woods lighting things on fire.
"She brought someone," Chaos stood up. "Annabeth Chase. Daughter of Athena." Annabeth tilted her head to the primordial.
"It's an honour to meet you." She told her.
"You don't have to be so formal," Ayden patted her arm. Blair moved to give Annabeth a quick hug too. She was a big hugger. The others moved from the forest back toward the house.
"Who blew something up?" Ayden asked as the others came forward. Knox hugged her first, then Dean, then Esme. Charlotte just stared at Annabeth.
"That's Lottie," Dean smiled. "She's got explosive blasts now."
"Did that just appear?" Ayden crossed her arms. Charlotte rolled up her sleeve showing the mark of Nyx. "Welcome to the club."
"Who's this?" Charlotte asked.
"Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena." Ayden introduced.
"Still not Percy," Blair hummed as she put her arm around Esme's shoulders.
"Percy is out on a different mission right now," Ayden clapped her hands together and looked at the others. "I'm here to bring you all to camp half-blood. You've had months to train with the primes, but it's time to join the others."
"What about the gods?" Knox asked.
"They are in battle with a titan right now, so they are preoccupied," Ayden assured them. "Ask them." She gestured to Aion and Chaos. Thalassa came out of the house eating a sandwich.
"Ayden, when did you get here?"
"Like two minutes ago."
"Great," She muttered wiping the mustard off the side of her mouth.
"They won't be able to stop Typhon," Achlys walked around the other side of the cabin. "They will wear out quickly."
"No they won't," Annabeth shot back.
"She's got strong opinions," Achlys crossed her arms. "Child of Athena no doubt."
"Upset 'cause she's smarter than you?" Ayden smiled as the goddess glared at her.
"You're such a little shit stirrer." She shook her head.
"Alright, calm down." Thalassa laughed. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to bring them to camp." Ayden gestured to the others.
"I just have to pack my bag and I'm ready." Dean nodded.
"Ours are packed already," Esme explained. "I get to bring Nim right?"
"Yes—"
"Uh, Ayden have you told Chiron about this?" Annabeth muttered as she stepped closer to her.
"Chiron won't care, I'm bringing in support. If anything he'll be grateful." Ayden gave her an unsure smile. "He'll come around, but I really need them at camp."
"Why?" Charlotte asked.
"I need the others to trust you in battle. Also, Blair how good are you with guns?" Blair tilted her head to the side.
"I've never used one, but it can't be that hard can it." She smiled.
"You're going to give Blair a gun?" Knox looked concerned.
"She doesn't have a marking. Also, the only people who have a perfect aim are needed in other areas. I'm going to need someone on the roofs."
"Me!" Blair's hand shot into the air. "Oh, I'm excited now." She ran inside.
"Let's everyone move inside so they can get their stuff." aion held the door open as the others came in.
"Wait so you all have markings?" Annabeth asked.
"All except Blair," Esme looked at Ayden. "Did she not know about us?"
"She knew about you two, but not the others. I only told Percy," Ayden rubbed her forehead. "I think."
"You are a really good secret keeper," Achlys scoffed as she sat down on the couch.
"Why are you even here? You hate it here?" Ayden glared at her.
"Well, I sensed you'd turned up and there is news that you killed Eris. I was interested to see if she'd maimed you in any way. Taken an ear, a few fingers, maybe an entire limb."
"No, she's just cursed me," Ayden lifted her shirt to show the scar. Achlys smiled and nodded her head.
"Serves you right."
"I can kill you too if you'd like." Ayden let go of her shirt.
"I'm so glad you're back," Thalassa laughed as she shoved Achlys over. The goddess shot up and held out a knife to Thalassa's throat, but she moved her hand seeing the goddess's body jerk as she moved to the side and sat down. The knife still clutched in her hand.
"What is she doing?" Annabeth whispered to Ayden. Thalassa moved her fingers as the goddess of misery grimaced. They were fighting each other for control of her body.
"She's using blood bending," Ayden explained.
She could tell Annabeth was uncomfortable with each of the gods in the room. She's used to the Olympians who were on their thrones. High and mighty. The primordials didn't act like that. They acted like the demigods, they stayed on the same level concealing their own amounts of power.
Two bags were thrown down the steps. A duffel with several football stickers on it. One had a bunch of toxic symbols. The twins came down a little bit after. Dean caught Knox's bag as he chucked it down the stairs. He'd saved his twin from getting hit in the head.
"My bad," He grimaced. "Great catch though." He took the bag from Dean. Esme and Blair had their backpacks as they came down.
"How do you think the others are going to react?" Blair asked.
"I feel like most of you will get along," Ayden stared at Charlotte. "Others might have a harder time, but there's a lot happening at camp so try to keep things civil. Please."
"Roger that," Dean smiled.
"Wait how are we all getting there?" Knox asked. He pointed at himself and counted everyone off.
"We're flying," Esme grabbed Blair's hand. "We'll see you there Ayden." She moved forward and hugged Chaos, Aion, and Achlys. Blair kissed their cheeks and they walked out the front door.
"I'll go first." Annabeth smiled as she put her hand on Ayden's arm. She teleported her to the tree where Peleus was lying.
"Hi boy," Ayden smiled. "You're about to get some company." She scratched under his chin. She teleported back and forth until the others were at camp. Ayden teleported back to see the other gods.
"What did you come back for?" Thalassa asked. "I thought you got all of them. Unless we miscounted." Aion laughed at her.
"I just wanted to say thank you," Ayden smiled at each of them. "You a lot less," She gestured to Achlys. "But thank you for protecting them and caring for them. Thank you for taking me in and giving me these markings even if it was under some false pretenses."
"Not this again," Achlys picked under her nails with the tip of the knife.
"I'm not arguing. I'm just saying thank you for treating me like family. It was some of the best memories I've had with a family in my entire life. So thank you all." Chaos wiped under her eye as she nodded.
"Be safe." She sniffled. "Just make it out."
"No promises, but I'll do my best to keep track of the others as well." Ayden stuck her hands in her pocket.
"Can we have a group hug?" Thalassa stood up. She put her arms out. "For old time's sake." Ayden laughed a little and walked closer to her. She let the goddess hold her until the others joined.
"I'm not hugging you," Achlys said from the couch. "You have my blessing that's enough."
"Thanks, Achlys." Ayden's voice was muffled. The other released her.
"You are a good girl Ayden," Chaos cupped her cheeks. "You've always been a good friend to everyone."
"And you won't help?" Ayden looked at Aion and Thalassa. "You won't help them?"
"They've brought this on themselves." Ayden wasn't going to argue with them. She just wished they would do more. A lot of demigods were going to die in this battle and they were going to sit back and release.
"Bye." She told them and teleported back. Esme and Blair had landed. Nimbus and Peleus were blowing smoke at one another as they ran around the strawberry fields.
"You've all been here before?" Ayden asked them. They nodded as they looked around.
"I mean it's been a while, but yeah nothing has really changed." Dean started walking toward the centre of the camp.
Ayden stayed close to them as she reintroduced them to their cabins. Knox didn't have one. Hypnos children weren't usually recognized or placed here. He would be staying in the Hermes cabin. Dean and Charlotte were welcomed with open arms. Esme really wasn't. Hecate only had a few kids. Five probably, they all looked angry with one another. Blair was staying in Hermes' cabin with Knox since Nike wasn't a recognised goddess.
"We really need more cabins," Ayden looked around. "We have the room for them."
"Yeah, but it takes time to build and we don't have that." Annabeth chewed the inside of her lip. "We should probably go tell Chiron now."
"Oh yeah," Ayden grimaced. They slowly walked toward the big house. He was sitting at his table playing solitaire with Mr. D's cards.
"Hello girls, what's the issue?"
"There's no issue," Ayden stuck her hands in her pocket. Chiron let out a long sigh and put the cards in a pile in front of him. "I brought the other conduits here." She blurted out.
"Esme and Blair?" He asked. She nodded.
"And the others," Annabeth added. Ayden slowly turned around to face her. "Sorry, sorry tell him everything though." She held up her hands and left the room.
"How many Ayden?" Chiron asked. "I thought you didn't find them."
"Well, they kind of found me when they were hiding from the Olympians." She rubbed her hands together. "There are only five conduits. Dean and Charlotte Monroe. Knox Ripley, and Esmeray Cromwell."
"Who were their godly parents?" Chiron pinched the bridge of his nose. "And how many markings do they each have?"
"Dean and Charlotte are children of Hephaestus. Dean has markings of Aion. Charlotte has markings from Nyx." Chiron nodded as she spoke.
"Interesting parirings."
"Knox is the son of Hypnos and has Thalassa's marking. Then Esme has Chaos's marking."
"Fitting, alright. Are they trained with the markings?" Chiron asked. "I can only assume so since you've kept them a secret for a while." Ayden nodded. "You really like keeping things to yourself."
"It's to protect others, so yes. They are here. I'm going to train Blair with the guns so she could be our sharpshooter while the others get comfortable with the campers and vice versa."
"You want them to trust one another?" Chiron pressed his fingers to his lips as he nodded. "I didn't think about that."
"Hopefully they'll all get along, but if not it won't be that big of a deal. The others are here to battle on their own. We each can be split up or brought together." Ayden explained as she looked down at her own markings. She'd barely trained with Aion's, but she knew it wouldn't be that hard.
"I would like to meet them?" Chiron moved around the table. He was in his wheelchair. Ayden walked out the front door and saw him walk around the other side. He'd shifted into his natural form. Knox, Esme, and Blair were walking down the path already. Not far behind them were Dean, Charlotte, and Annabeth.
"Who are the newbies?" Silena asked. She had her arms crossed over her chest as she watched them come forward.
"Just new demigods," Ayden answered as she looked up at Chiron. She didn't want people to know that they were conduits. She wanted to keep that as quiet as possible since there was a spy amongst them. She wanted to catch Kronos off guard.
"Interesting that they show up now," Silena narrowed her eyes at them. "I mean they seem to be older as well."
"They're friends of mine. I convinced them to come back to camp to help with the war," Ayden felt bad for lying to everyone, but she didn't see any other options. Silena just nodded.
"Knox Ripley," Chiron shook his hand.
"Good to see you again." Chiron smiled. "Glad to see you've found your way back to camp ladies." Chiron looked at Blair and Esme. "I assume Nimbus is with Peleus?" Esme smirked.
"I'll feed both of them later, they're not used to having another dragon buddy."
"You must be the twins?" Chiron moved past the other three. He offered his hand to Dean.
"Dean Monroe. This is my sister Charlotte." Chiron gave her a brief nod.
"I remember you," Charlotte glared at him. Ayden smacked the back of her head.
"Why can't you just be nice?" She shook her head.
"Touch me one more time and I'll–." Dean slid his hand over Charlotte's mouth as she reached out for Ayden's neck. Her brother put her in a headlock and pulled her back.
"Sorry, she's got some anger issues sometimes." He chuckled nervously. "Especially with Ayden."
"I broke her face," Ayden shrugged. Chiron looked between the group.
"Well, Adyen I trust you to get them settled in. It looks like you've got your hands full." Chiron quickly moved away from the group.
Dean let go of his sister and she pointed a finger at Ayden. Her hand was engulfed in flames as she pressed her lips together. A vein was popping out on her forehead.
"Don't even hit me again," She snapped.
"It wasn't even that hard," Ayden stared at her. "But I won't do it again if you have proper manners. Stop glaring at everyone. You won't make friends that way."
"Most of these kids are going to die anyways, I'm not here to make friends," She looked around as a few Apollo children walked past. Their group seemed to be the centre of attention. New faces for people to interrogate.
"Stop saying that." Ayden snapped at her. "Keep your markings covered. We have a spy in camp and I don't want anyone to know you're conduits as well. I want that to be the upper hand."
"Got it," Knox tugged at his sleeve. "I think I'm going to walk around the grounds. It's been a while since I've been here."
"We'll join you." Dean put his arm around his sister's shoulders. Her face was still red as her chest rose and fell quickly.
"Actually let's all go," Blair put her arm around Ayden's shoulders as she dragged her with. Annabeth just watched the group walk down the path and disappear into the woods.