Chapter Text
“Chiron!” the woman called, waving and running toward him. She wore a wide grin on her face, an orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, camouflage pants, and well-worn combat boots. Her coppery brown hair was wrapped up in a pretty, but secure bun, with a pin through it.
The centaur turned and smiled fondly. “Chloria,” he said, “welcome.”
She laughed. “I see some new faces. Who’s that behind you?”
“A new camper. She arrived last week.”
“Hi there! I’m Chloria, nice to meet you. What’s your name?”
“Annabeth. Chase. Daughter of Athena,” she said quietly.
“That’s a cool knife. Is Chiron teaching you to use it?”
“Yes.”
Chloria smiled. “Good for you. I like knife fighting too. It was nice to meet you! Let’s talk some more later!”
“I guess.”
The woman smiled and waved as she ran off toward the cabins, only stopping long enough to pick a handful of strawberries.
“Who was that?” Annabeth asked. “I thought most demigods died pretty young, but she was an adult. How old is she, he mid-twenties? Early thirties?”
“She’s actually closer to 2100 years old,” Chiron said with a smile, nudging her foot back a little, correcting her stance.
“WHAT?”
“She’s a goddess. One of the youngest, though. I’m older than her, actually.”
“…Goddess of what?” Annabeth finally asked, trying to figure out what to say next.
“Hm, I’m not fully sure. I think most recently it was stories? Or maybe witnessing stories? You’d have to ask her.”
Annabeth processed that for a second, then refocused her mind on the training. There would be time for that later.
***
Nico sat quietly and alone in the cold, Hades cabin. He drew his knees up to his chin and rested his back against the edge of the ugly, coffin-shaped bed. A tear rolled down his cheek and he swiped it away.
Bianca.
Outside the door, he heard humming, then it swung open and a head popped in. “Ugh, still hasn’t been redecorated, huh? The beds are horrendous,” she said. Then her eyes settled on him.
“Hi there,” she said with a smile, letting herself in. “I’m Chloria. What’s your name?” He just stared at her. She walked over to sit next to him on the bed. “You look like you’ve been through a lot. What’s wrong?” the woman asked gently.
Nico didn’t know what it was, maybe the genuine concern, the first he’d gotten since the whole…all of it. Tears started pouring down his face, and he let out a strangled sob. She opened her arms in an invitation, and he buried his head in her shoulder, soaking her ugly, orange, camp shirt.
The way she stroked his hair reminded him of Bianca, and he cried harder. He’d never gotten a chance to process anything. His mother dying. The strange hotel. The culture shock of realizing they’d traveled into the future. The monsters. The gods. Bianca leaving him for the huntresses. Bianca…Bianca getting…
He whimpered at the overwhelm of emotions, but finally the tears were starting to slow.
He was handed a handkerchief, the first he’d seen since the hotel, and it brought a few more tears, but he managed to clean off his face. The warmth in the chilly cabin disappeared, but it returned and when he looked up, he saw her offering him a cup of water and a gentle smile. It was how his mom would smile at him when he was sad.
When the water was drained, he was offered a pack of crackers. He was too numb to do anything but silently accept them and start munching on them.
As he did, she asked, nibbling her own, “How old are you?”
He had to hold back more tears. “I’m about eleven…but I don’t really remember. I’m kind of also…eighty.”
Her eyes were wide. “Wow, usually that’s a pretty safe question…Um, name?”
“Nico di Angelo.” He waved his hand at the cabin. “Son of Hades, obviously.”
“I’m Chloria, in case you missed it earlier. Daughter of Hermes and Clio.”
He frowned. Something was nudging the edge of his mind. Finally, he grasped the thought. “Isn’t…isn’t one of the muses named Clio, or Kleio? Um, tragedies?”
“Impressive!” she said, grinning at him, he ducked his head to hide a blush. “Muse of history actually.”
“That means…that means you’re a goddess too. But, I don’t recognize you name. Um, ma’am.” How were you supposed to address gods again?
She giggled. “I’d be surprised if you did. I was born only a few years before the battle of Corinth, and the fall of Greece, so there aren’t any myths or legends about me. I kind of like it that way. And as one of the youngest goddesses, I mostly fly under the radar in Olympus too. I have a couple friends, but mostly I avoid being there. For lots of reasons.” Her face darkened for a moment, but then it was gone.
“Your stepmom is pretty nice, though.” His face must had shown his confusion, because she added, “Persephone.”
Oh, right. Persephone would be his stepmom. That would make Demeter his…step-grandma? But, no, she was Hades’s sister, so she’d be his aunt. Ugh, he’d always thought the family tree of the gods was crazy, but now he was part of it. Ew.
Chloria laughed. “You don’t need to think about it too hard. I try not to, honestly. That’s partly why I try to avoid the boys up on Olympus.” Nico had never heard of the Olympic gods referred to as boys before. “With all those crazy stories…yeah, no thanks. I’m not committed to it, like Artemis, but I’m not interested right now.” She laughed again. “It only took, what, a couple thousand years for that mindset to become socially acceptable. How funny is that?”
She got up and ruffled his hair. “See you later, Nico! Mind if I join you during the campfire tonight?”
“I actually was going to skip.”
“Then can I skip with you.” She paused, head cocking to the side. “Is that something people normally do alone?”
Nico’s lips twitched into a tiny smile. “You can come with, I guess.”
“Great, see you then!” she waved and trotted out the door.
***
Leo yawned as he tightened another screw. It was a good thing Bunker 9 was so huge. The Argo II would have to be built outside otherwise, and he didn’t really want to be out in the rain in the middle of the night.
There was a creak as the door opened and closed. He furrowed his brow. Were Jason or Piper here to tell him to sleep? It was after curfew, though.
“Whoof, it’s pouring out there… Helooooooooooo~” a female voice he didn’t recognize called out into the bunker.
“Hi!” Leo called back.
“Yay! A person!” the voice said. “Chiron said Bunker 9 was finally in use again, but I almost didn’t believe him.”
Leo leaned over the railing of the ship to see a woman wearing an orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt looking up with her mouth open in shock.
Wow, she was gorgeous.
“This is huge!” she exclaimed. “Are you building this?”
“Yup! The fabulous, flamin’ hot, Leo McShizzle, baby!” he announced. She laughed. “This girl is going to be the Argo II.”
“Mind if I come aboard?”
“Come on up! There’s a ladder over there.”
A moment later, she was looking around in awe at the ship. It was still mostly the skeleton, so she had to sort of dance around the beams to keep from falling down into the bowels of the ship as she wandered around taking it all in. Her expression reminded Leo of just how amazing this project was.
He looked down and realized he’d made a tiny spider-helicopter with odds and ends from his belt, and tucked it away.
“Oh! I’m Chloria, by the way,” she said.
“Leo Valdez, certified lady-killer, and heart-stopper.”
She grinned wider, somehow. “Should I be afraid? I don’t have a heart problem, but I am a lady…”
He laughed. This was a great lady! “Not at all! Captain Leo will protect you!”
She stuck her head under the front ballista. “Leo, when did you come to camp?”
“Oh, a few weeks ago. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen you around. Were you on a quest? Or…” he didn’t know how to ask, but… “The only adult I see around here is Chiron. And Coach Hedge. Are you a half-blood?”
“No, not technically, son of Hephaestus. Well, pretty much everyone is half one parent, half the other, but I’m not a demigod.”
“How did you know my godly parent?” She poked her head out to raise an eyebrow and gesture around the ship, before sticking it back among the wiring. “Good point,” he conceded.
“If you’re wondering what I am though, I suppose I’m a goddess. Honestly, I’m more like a ghost that haunts the camp, though. I just keep showing up.” She laughed.
“You’re a GODDESS???”
“Mhm! Mind giving me a tour of the Argo II?”