“Percy?” I asked in disbelief.
A kitten hid in a corner, mewing. No one else noticed, though, so I guess I’m just going cazy.
“Are you really Bianca?” he replied. “How are you here?”
The girl with grey eyes who I think was the girl Percy was looking for on the quest smirked, “Obviously Seaweed Brain, she went to Elysium, applied for half rebirth, and got it. Haven’t you ever listened to Nico?”
Katia looked completely and utterly confused. “Bianca, do you know these people from before you-” she stopped abruptly.
I slowly nodded my head.
“And are they the people from this other camp you’re constantly talking about?” Katia continued.
Yet again, I nodded.
Then there was an awkward silence as everyone took in everything. Katia made a turtle with her hands. We both burst out laughing, and Percy and Annabeth looked at us oddly. Then there was another awkward silence.
The Silence was finally broken by a huge, “Roar!”
The kitten suddenly grew into a giant skeleton sabertoothed cat. It first went for Percy and Annabeth, leaping at them and tearing Annabeth’s backpack to shreds. Percy yelled, “ Small Bob! What are you doing?”
Annabeth glanced at him. “I don’t think this is Small Bob, Percy.”
“Maybe it’s Small Bob’s evil cousin, whoever that is,” Katia suggested. Then, she beckoned at me. I walked over to her. “Why can’t we just leave them?”
“Because,” I said, “we have to get to Camp Half Blood.”
A look of understanding crossed her face, just before she leapt into battle screeching, “DIE SmallBob’sevilcousinwhoeverthatis!” I smiled and began to shoot arrows at the monster. Of course, I was a little rusty, so barely half of them hit it. At last, after a stab to the neck from Katia, the cat disintegrated.
Percy looked at us. “Katia, are you a demigod?”
I knew she wasn’t, and Katia had never spoken of what happened before her death, but for some reason, she told Percy some of her past. “I’m from Camp Jupiter, descendant of a god.” Percy nodded. At some point, he must have visited Camp Jupiter, because Camp Half Blood was all pure demigods, none of them lived long enough to have kids.
“Cool. That means you can join our crew. We’re heading towards camp right now.”
As we walked, a huge warship came into view. Its tall sails whipped in the wind. A bronze dragon masthead spewed a bit of fire before becoming still again. I shook my head and blinked a few times to make sure it was real, but sure enough, the dragon swung its head around in the other direction. A I walked onto the ship, I noticed many hidden weapons and stiffened up, wondering if this was some sort of trick. My suspicions were confirmed when a voice coming from some speakers said, “Welcome aboard the Argo II. How many prisoners have you brought us this time?”
I couldn’t move. My hands got all clammy and all I could think about was that I had led Katia to her doom.
“Ha! If I were you, Mr. I’m So Cool, I’m The Commander Who Probably Built This Ship, I would be running away fast. I also wouldn’t be taking prisoner daughters of Hades, former hunters of Artemis, and slayers of Small Bob’s Evil Cousin, and boy is he vicious. By doing this, you’re making a whole bunch of deities mad. Really, really mad. Oh, and Zoe Nightshade, too. She and her sisters can get pretty mad. Calypso’s probably the worst, but she’s away on Ogygia.” I could hear angry breaths coming from the speakers. “Maybe I should stop,” Katia finished.
“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.”