Chapitre 904: 12
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"Shouldn't you be with your dad right now? He's about to enter the auditorium."
A startled girl with deep dark-brown hair dressed in a flowy pale pink coral dress turned around.
"Who are you?"
I was contemplating if I should answer truthfully or give a white lie when Paige and Justin found me in the narrow alley.
"Jade! Come on, we're supposed to be inside," Paige hurriedly fussed. Justin was frowning at me when he also noticed the other girl near us.
He asked, "Hey, aren't you Tristan McLean's daughter?"
The young girl looked at us and for a solid second, I forgot everything about that moment. Who I was, where I was, why I was there, and why I was talking to this girl.
Piper McLean was extraordinarily pretty, even at a young age. A kaleidoscope of colors ranging from bright hazel to grey, blue, and green flickered like glass shards as irises and her smooth dark skin was a stark contrast against the soft pale fabric. She was probably about a year younger than me, maybe fourteen years old, and my brain nearly short-circuited at my strained efforts in trying to jog up my memory. I wasn't the only one who was tongue tied at the encounter. Paige and Justin were also stunned into silence.
"Leave me alone," she said grouchily, emphasized towards me.
And it was like my feet had a mind of their own. Without conscious thought, my feet stepped backwards, but I bumped into Paige and Justin on the way and most interestingly, my step-siblings hadn't reacted to Piper's words. The back of my mind was telling me that it was because they were clear-sighted mortals and were possibly unaffected by charmspeak.
"Your dad's been looking for you," Justin said stiffly.
Piper was trying to brush us away. "Okay, thanks for letting me know, but you can leave first."
Unfortunately, it seemed that Piper's charmspeak was stronger than my own will power. Granted, I wasn't exactly trying to fight her godly abilities due to surprise of meeting her, but Piper was meant to be a strong demigod. A haze entered my head and I suddenly felt like I understood what it was like for a mortal to be under the Mist. Completely out of my control, I chirped, "Okay!" and did a one-eighty turn around to walk back to the main entrance of the lobby. Paige and Justin gave me confused glances before following me, leaving behind Piper McLean, daughter of the now famous Tristan McLean.
"What was that about?" Justin muttered.
I was still in a daze and said, "What was what?"
Paige gestured behind us. "You know, that, you listened to her without hesitation and did what she said."
"I did?"
Justin sighed. "Whatever, we'll deal with that question later, we have to get moving before mom and dad kill us for being late."
Even Justin's slip of the tongue of naming his step-mother as 'mom' didn't snap me out of the haze. They led me to front of the large building where a huge crowd had gathered. Fans, paparazzi, video cameras, and interviewers pushed against a barricade that blocked the way to a long dark red carpet that stretched from the lobby inside to the cul-de-sac at the front where sleek expensive cars rolled up. Polished socialites, celebrities, and other esteemed guests stepped out of their automobiles, enduring the flash photography and screams of spectators on their way inside the building with the relief of security surrounding the area.
We snuck around the barricade, away from the crowd's eye, to a discrete entrance point at the side guarded by two security guards. Showing them our guest invitations, we were allowed to walk past the checkpoint and entered the lobby without trouble. My mom found us before we found them.
"Jade! Why did you run off? Where did Paige and Justine find you?" Yuri fretted. Fritz Adalstan was behind her, trying to alleviate her frayed nerves.
"It's okay, we're all here together now, we can go in," he said warmly as he led the way inside to the main auditorium. Inside was somewhat quieter, but the excited buzz was the same. The haze induced by charmspeaking was finally lifting and details were gradually returning to me.
We were currently at the premier showing of The King of Sparta, and my mom and I had been given extra guest passes for Fritz, Paige, and Justin to attend. Everyone was dressed up in fitted tuxes and dresses with hair and makeup done. Pop stars and actors and friends mingled, people had their phone cameras out trying to take as many selfies with as many celebrities as possible, and everything was so Hollywood-style glamorous. My family were all involved in the show business and film industry, even me, so we weren't unaccustomed to the environment. The only difference was that the step-family members, Fritz, Paige, and Justin were the ones with their faces shown in front of the camera, while my mother's and my face were not.
Yuri wore a modest ivory gown while Fritz wore a matching necktie with a non-flashy tuxedo. Justin also wore a casual tux with a patterned tie and Paige wore a baby blue silky gown that complemented her blonde hair. Although as not celebrity-esque as my step-siblings, I was also dressed up in a light grey silk shirt and high-waisted patterned slim dress pants. Everyone seemed taller because of the extra inches their heels granted them.
"Would you stop looking like you're contemplating murder," Justin snarked as he waved to some acquaintances. I rearranged my facial muscles as an attempt to look less intimidating; it's not my fault I had an expressionless neutral face as a default muscle arrangement.
"Actually, I was thinking about world domination," I snipped back sarcastically. I managed a grin when Lola Peters ecstatically shouted my name over the throng of people. Several other people I had body-doubled for in the past also smiled at me in the midst of their own socializing.
"Still fantasizing about that, are you? And how's that working out for you?"
"You sure talk a lot for someone who can't even bandage a shoulder correctly."
"And you talk a lot for someone who gets hurt way too often."
I put my hand next to my ear. "Justin, is that concern I hear in your voice? I really appreciate it, but I don't need your useless worrying."
"Okay, you know what-"
Paige jabbed both of us in the ribs. "Both of you, stop it," she admonished through gritted teeth as she flashed a perfect smile to passing friend.
Justin hissed, "Ow!"
"Paige, I have more bruises from you than from work as a stunt double," I complained.
"Oh, be quiet," Paige cut off our cries of defiance and took us both by the arm as she marched down the rows of theater chairs. Justin and I let ourselves be steered by the dominant sibling to our assigned seats, leaving two empty spots next to us for our parents who were still greeting their colleagues and friends in the crowd.
There was a beat of a pause when my step-brother and I caught each other's eyes.
"Stiff-necked," I muttered. Justin's left eye twitched.
"Wack-job," he grumbled back to me.
A more painful jab was all it took to silence us again. Sitting between us, Paige rested her elbows onto her chair's armrests, elbows that had been digging into two rib bones just two seconds earlier.
"Paige, I can't breathe," I whimpered as I clutched the underside of my rib. Justin wasn't saying anything, probably because he was also trying to silently fight the pain in his own ribcage, but I heard him suck in a sharp breath, almost wheezing.
"Silence," she ordered. "The movie starts in less than ten minutes and our parents' are going to have our heads if we make a ruckus within the first twenty minutes of the premier. Just sit still, and be quiet."
Justin's and my shoulders slumped at either side of her, resigning ourselves to her command. In the last year, we were quickly learning who was the authoritative sibling out of the three of us. Paige really whipped us into obedience when Yuri or Fritz wasn't around.
"Stupid Greek monsters - won't stay dead - why do we have to deal with them," I muttered angrily as I stabbed another cat-demon into oblivion. Its remains scattered into dust, disappearing into an invisible breeze which left nothing but my tired body and various scratches on my skin and expensive clothes as proof of the monster ordeal. My mood worsened when I realized that Paige and Yuri were going to berate me later for running off. That was, if they find out that I'd been missing for the past thirty minutes and was absent from the premier's reception. It wasn't my fault that the dumb feline beasts were tracking me down.
Though I wasn't necessarily tired from the fight, my head ached, perhaps from some stress. My sword disappeared as I slumped down against a brick wall of the alley where I had seen Piper McLean only several hours earlier. Thankfully, the vicinity was devoid of spectators now that the main event in the auditorium had finished. The monsters must have been attracted to Piper's scent since she was a daughter of one of the twelve Olympian gods. Even though she wasn't aware of her godly blood, Aphrodite's blood was strong enough to still tempt nearby monsters.
Take a breather. Cradling my the side of my head, I fingered my grey silk shirt and eyed it reproachfully. It was torn in some areas because of me rolling around and hitting the ground during the scuffle, same with my pants. Threads hung at the elbow and edges of the fabric. The back of my head hit the wall and I sighed. Mom never liked it when I ruined clothes, but she also knew I couldn't help it so she'd never really yell at me full-heartedly about it. I hated how her face would tighten when she held back her words, trying to be careful since I was in harm's way constantly.
I heard dress shoes hitting pavement before a voice spoke.
"Jeez, it's like you're always in trouble," Justin commented. He pulled out a small ziplock bag out of his inside jacket pocket as he knelt down in front of me.
"There's a reason why I don't let any of you guys know when I'm out fighting," I said. My own voice sounded empty, even to me.
Justin ripped open a packet of disinfectant wipes. "And what's that reason supposed to be?"
Since when did he carry a ziploc bag of first aid items?
"You guys would get hurt. It's better if none of you knew." I hissed when he dabbed the alcohol firmly onto the back of my right hand. "Ow, that hurt."
Justin didn't say anything as he finished wiping the remainder of my cuts and bruises. After he was satisfied with treating every tiny scratch, he put away his mini first aid kit back into his jacket. I was put off by his quiet attitude. He usually would chew me out, call me various unpleasant words, and rub in my injuries to spite me as punishment for potentially worrying Yuri and Paige. In his own way, it showed how much he cared about our family and I guess it touched me to know that he cared about my mom like his own family. But right now, his silence was more off-putting than anything else.
"You're just as human as Paige, my dad, your mom, or I am," he said in a serious tone and looked at me firmly with his light brown eyes. "You told us that demigods are twice as vulnerable, to mortal and godly threats. If anything, you should be relying on us more."
The back of my throat tightened as I looked down. "Thanks," I said quietly. I got up, following him out to the front where he led us to meet the rest of our family who were ready to leave the auditorium. To my surprise, Justin made up an excuse for my absence when mom questioned us. We got to a reserved parking lot, and Fritz drove us home. Since it was a sleek sedan, Paige, Justin, and I were crammed in the back row.
Paige bumped my shoulder. "So, Piper McLean?"
Justin turned towards me, also interested. "Yeah, what was that? Do you know her?"
Yuri and Fritz looked as us through the rear view mirror. "What was what?" They asked.
"Some girl we met," my step-siblings chorused.
I lowered my voice to avoid the attention of our parents. "She's a demigod, like me."
Paige excitedly clasped her hands. "Really? Tristan McLean's daughter is a demigod? Oh, oh, that means her mom is a goddess! Let me guess, it has to be Aphrodite!"
I raised my eyebrows at the quick deduction. "Yeah, actually, you're right."
She pumped the air with a fist. "Yes! Justin, you owe me ten bucks."
I looked between them. "You guys made a bet?"
Justin grumbled, pulling out some cash from his wallet. "We bet on who the godly parent was. My guess was Hera."
"She's the goddess of marriage, of course she can't commit adultery, it's against her existence," Paige explained as though she had said it before. "Right, Jade?"
I shot her a finger gun. "Bingo. Seems like Justin doesn't know his Greek myths. Hera's kind of a dumb guess."
He waved away our teasing. "Okay, okay, I never got into that stuff, but back to the point. Why'd you listen to Piper McLean like you were her servant or something?"
"Yeah," Paige said, mildly concerned. "Almost obedient, which was weird."
"I'm obedient," I said in a half-hearted protest. As expected, my step-siblings gave me a dubious look.
I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, anyway, first, Piper McLean doesn't know she's a demigod, and no, don't tell her," I added when Paige opened her mouth. "I told you guys before, if a demigod learns about their half-blood, their scent becomes stronger and attracts more monsters. It's better than she doesn't know for now since she'll probably know about it later. As for why I listened to her without question, obediently, it's because of her charmspeak ability. Some children of the love goddess have the ability to influence things or people with their voice, almost like hypnotizing."
Justin muttered something about "freakish flirting" and "of course, a love goddess' kids can do that" while Paige gaped.
"Wait, when she told us to leave, why weren't we affected?" Justin gestured at himself and Paige.
"It might have to do with being clear-sighted mortals." I sighed, slouching in the car seat. "You guys don't get affected by the same magic stuff that affect demigods and regular mortals. Also, she was mainly talking to me and it wasn't aimed at you two."
"Must be some charmspeak if you followed her words like a robot," Justin commented. "Unless you're weak against that stuff."
I tried defending myself, holding up two fingers. "In my defense, one, only certain children of Aphrodite are granted charmspeak so it's kind of a big ability, and two, I wasn't trying to fight it."
Paige did a mini-pout. "I want to be a child of Aphrodite. Charmspeak sounds so cool."
I thought of the Barbie cabin at Camp Half-Blood and Drew Tanaka, then snorted. "Yeah, sure."
"What else could they do?" Justin asked curiously.
"Some can speak French fluently, curse you with bad makeup, clothes, and hair, they're freakishly socially aware, some can alter their physical appearances slightly, influence your desires," I listed. "There might be more I'm not aware about."
Justin leaned back next to me and stared off into the car window. "Demigods, love goddess, magical abilities," he said absentmindedly. "I liked it when life was much simpler."
"You're only eighteen," I pointed out. "If anything, I should be the one saying that."
Paige cut in. "Jade, you're like, fifteen."
"Thirty-five," I responded automatically. "But yeah, let's go with fifteen."
My step-siblings shook their heads at me, but asked no more questions. We spent the rest of the car ride talking about the movie premier.
While watching my step-siblings argue about the best parts of the movie King of Sparta, I thought about how I missed having siblings. Growing up as an only child in this life was a bit lonely since I had a past life full of younger siblings. I missed the pointless bickering, the childlike banter, and the neverending conversations about random topics, and feeling comfortable with them. I also missed my old siblings. And my family. I missed a lot of things from my past life, but I wanted to see my family the most. If I could just say something to them for one last time… A sad smile formed on my face.
"Jade, what's wrong?" Paige asked.
"Nothing."
I was fine.
"Asbolus."
The dark-haired centaur flicked his long tail, almost as though he were skittish. Asbolus wasn't one to be anxious, so the nervous behavior was a little unsettling.
"Why are you in my dreams?"
"Your father wishes to speak to you."
If dreams could freeze, that's how it felt. I stared at the centaur's face, trying to make sense of what he just said. It could have been a joke. I had never spoken to Hypnos, I had only received subtle signs in my life that he was present, but never a face to face conversation.
"Hold on, what did you say?" I wasn't ready for this. This was way too abrupt. What was happening? Was something going on?
"He will be waiting for you outside." As soon as Asbolus said this, he vanished into darkness. The dream turned black, and I woke up.
I bolted upwards, throwing off my bed covers. My hands were shaking and breath was erratic. Forcing one hand to fist into a grip, I pulled on a sweater and quietly left my bedroom. The house was dark, everyone asleep in their own rooms. Although Asbolus gave me no directions, I was led to my house's backyard where there was a garden and chairs circling a metal fire pit.
The garden was my mother and Fritz's pride, they had both grown it together in the past year. It was near three in the morning and the sky was dark. Los Angeles' congested sky didn't allow many stars to shine, but when I stepped out with sandals, my breath hitched.
It was like dark curtains had parted. The Milky Way streaked the sky, with bedazzling stars shining brightly, emitting its own light. I could even see each star's individual hue, some were green, yellow, and even purple. It was breathtakingly dazzling.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
I turned at the voice. Someone was sitting in one of the chairs. The dead fire pit sudden sparked with a flame and blazed, casting a light upon the stranger's face. The stranger wasn't facing me, but looking at the fire instead.
"Hello, Jade."
My eyes trailed over the unfamiliar face. It was so generic, with no distinguishable features and nothing special about it. Steady eyes with no discernible color, faded long hair that was tied in a low ponytail, and ordinary clothes of a simple long-sleeve shirt and slacks. I couldn't see his face. It didn't hold a recognizable form to my vision.
"You have a wonderful garden. Yuri always loved flowers."
I opened my mouth, but found that I didn't know what to say to him. What was I supposed to call him? Father?
The god of sleep's eyes lowered at my hesitance. "I know your uncertainty."
His gentleness gave me some courage. "Why are you here?" I asked quietly.
Why now? After fifteen years, why speak to me now?
The most horrible about having a godly parent was the love-hate feelings that came with it. You would hate that you were left alone with a single mortal parents without an explanation, left to fend for yourself, and it was even worse if you didn't have your own cabin in Camp Half-Blood. And despite the silence, you would wish for something from your godly parent. A sign, a word, anything that would reassure you that you were being watched and possibly even cared for. We might not admit it, but demigods strove to be acknowledged by their godly parent.
"Trouble is brewing, and I know you want to take action. Do you remember my directions from Asbolus when you met the seer in Turkey?"
"You wanted me to look into history before the Olympian gods," I said stiffly. "About the Titans."
"And what did you learn about yourself?"
"You're the son of Nyx and Erebus, the Protogenoi, who were the children of Khaos itself." My voice trailed off, slightly fearful of the three godly beings I named. "Meaning, I am closer to the Titans' generation in lineage compared to the the children of the Olympians."
Hypnos nodded. "For the Protogenoi, their powers were not bounded by concepts or elements, but thoughts and feelings. The range of their control are unlimited as long as it fell in their domain."
At my confused expression, he added, "A difficult concept to understand, I know, but nonetheless, it makes them powerful."
"What does this have to do with me?"
Hypnos continued, "The older the blood, the more fluid and variable your powers are. The sons and daughters of the major and minor goddesses have specified powers, it is in their name. For example, Poseidon, the Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses."
"Does this make them weaker?"
"No," he clarified. "Their powers are simply refined, structured and made clear. This has benefits."
This made me think. "Are you saying that I have a different range of abilities compared to Olympian demigods?"
Hypnos smiled a little. "You may figure that out yourself."
After a moment of silence, I asked, "Is this all you came for? Just to talk about my ancestry?"
Hypnos finally faced away from the fire and looked at me. His face was serious and when he spoke, his sounded almost ominous.
"More than your ancestry, I wish to speak to you about your life, more specifically, to explain why you have a past life's memories."
And it was like the world was swept underneath me.
I sucked in a sharp breath of air and held it in my lungs out of shock. All this time, I thought no one knew, that no one could ever know, that I could never speak about it. I thought it was something that should be kept to my dying breath. My life was wrong, and I wasn't supposed to exist. I was a mistake.
Hypnos contradicted my thoughts. "Your life is not a mistake."
I was hyperventilating. "This is-I-you wha-, how'd you-"
"You were meant for another life, but the only mistake is that your reincarnation was different, something that you cannot be blamed for," Hypnos said calmly.
The numbness sapped the strength out of me and my legs grew weak. My knees hit the ground, my breathing was still irregular.
"I-I can't, this is, you don't know, I n-never t-t-told anyone," I stammered. This was too much.
"Jade, it is alright, you-"
My resolve snapped.
"Do you know how it felt?" I yelled. "I wake up, out of darkness, out of nothing, into another world, ripped out of my old life, and I couldn't talk to anyone about it. It's terrifying, I felt small, weak, and disgusting. I knew I wasn't supposed to be alive, but I have a body, and I had memories that I wasn't supposed to have."
I punched the dirt ground and tears flooded out of my eyes. The painful crunch of gravel was almost cathartic.
I was ranting. "I know things I shouldn't know, I meet people I shouldn't talk to. I'm always thinking, calculating, of what I could say or do, I'm always feeling lost. And it's so tiring. I can't talk to anyone, I don't know what to do, I'm scared of making a mistake, I'm scared that I've already messed things up."
"I hate myself," I rasped. "I hate living, it's tiring and burdensome and it's just not right."
"Jade." His steady voice helped me focus. I controlled my breath, breathing in through the nose, out the mouth, trying to suppress the hiccups. Tears streaking my face, I looked up at Hypnos.
"Nothing can change a prophecy," Hypnos explained patiently. "Even someone like yourself, with a past life's memories."
"Then why do I remember my past life?" I angrily asked in a thick voice. "Why am I alive?"
Hypnos was quiet before answering. "When you died, you entered the Underworld like the rest of the dead. Your past self chose rebirth, however unlike what all spirits were supposed to do, you refused to bathe in the River Lethe. Reincarnated spirits perform a rite of passage through that river to forget their former selves so that they would be allowed to live a new life, but you chose not to."
"For what reason, you should be able to figure out yourself," he finished softly.
My mind whirled at the revelation. "I-I, what?"
"Jade, you were meant for another life, and there is a reason for your memories. You will have to find out why yourself."
I breathed out. "And how am I supposed to do that?"
Hypnos emphasized, "You are my daughter. In sleep, your mind takes you to places beyond time and space, you never truly realized the potentials. You only need to search."
He left the chair and knelt down in front of me, wiping a tear. His hand was warm.
Although he spoke gently until now, his voice and gaze turned stern. "But beware, dwell too long in the depths of your mind, into the past, and you will not wake from slumber," he warned me.
My jaw tightened at that. There was too much to feel, the buried emotions from deep within, that I had hidden for so long, were brewing to the surface. It was a storm of anger, sadness, frustration, helplessness, and feelings of loss. I felt like was going to have a mental breakdown any moment, and there was a growing headache on the verge of exploding.
Hypnos held my conflicted gaze. "You are the first child I have had in decades, and you have not disappointed me all this time. With your memories, you can make choices. Other gods will not know of your past self if you do not make half-hearted decisions."
"I'm afraid I am pushing Zeus' patience further than I have ever before," the god of sleep said regretfully. He stood up, and began shedding his mortal appearance. Large feathered wings that shifted in color sprouted from his back, and Hypnos' eyes glowed with golden embers. A pair of miniature golden wings crowned his dark curly hair.
"I will see you again, Jade," he said before I could say anything back. I still had so much I wanted to say, to ask him, but the words couldn't leave my mouth and I watched helplessly as he shape-shifted. Hypnos faded, his body taking the form of a cloud of pale blue butterflies, dispersing into the night sky.
I attempted to stall. "W-wait-"
Hypnos' voice echoed, "Find your brother, Clovis, for me, will you?"
At the spot where he had stood, laid a patch of soil with a silver seedling plant in the middle. Moonlace.
When the tears stopped falling and my hands stopped shaking, I delicately picked up the small plant. Ignoring the blood covering my left hand, I went over to an empty spot in the garden and dug a small crevice into the dirt. Carefully setting the moonlace seedling, I quietly watched it. The plant glowed with a soft, silvery halo and its scent was extremely calming, like a sea breeze. Out of the corner of my eye, a small pale blue butterfly came into view, resting next to the moonlace. Its thin wings opened and closed.
"Thank you, I guess," I murmured. "I'll look for Clovis, too."
Seemingly satisfied with my words, the butterfly took off, fluttering away into the moonlight. The fire pit was still burning and crackling in front of me. I crossed my legs and slumped my back, elbows resting on my knees. I craned my neck backwards, gazing at the starlit night sky. The view was so large and vast that I suddenly felt so small. My eyes went between watching the sky lighten into the early hours of the day and the dying fire as it ran out of fuel to burn.
And that was how my family found me the following morning. Fingernails full of dirt, scabbed hands, and a tear-stained, haggard face with a cloudy expression.
My worried mother was the first to talk to me. "Jade, what are you doing here? Were you out here all night? Why did you-"
She caught a look at my face and stopped talking. I didn't know what my expression held, but Yuri was taken aback. I stood up and ignored the ache of stiff joints from staying in one position too long.
"Take care of the plant, it's called moonlace," I said in a hoarse voice. Paige and Justin rushed out, followed by Fritz.
Paige tried reaching for my hand "Jade! We were so worried-"
"What happened?" Justin asked harshly. "Why is there blood on your hands?"
Pulling away from my step-siblings' reach, I apologized, "Sorry, I'm really tired right now. I didn't get much sleep last night."
Avoiding eye contact from everyone, I walked past Fritz, muttering, "I'll be in my room, sleeping."
I had some dreaming to do.
Someone was poking me, trying to provoke me and it was working. I had woken up from a nasty nightmare an hour before (ventured into the wrong side of a dream) and had been content lying in the comforts of my bunk bed when someone was poking my shoulder.
"I'll cut that finger off if you don't stop," I snarled from my pillow. The finger quickly retreated.
"Um, Jade?"
I cracked open an eye and saw that it was Travis. He looked worried. "What."
"You haven't eaten anything all day and it's dinner time, everyone else already left, but Connor and I wanted to ask if you're feeling hungry," he said carefully. At my unresponsiveness, Travis pursed his lips.
They were about to exit the cabin when I called out, "Wait."
Sitting upright, I briefly covered my eyes, pushing out unwanted flashbacks of nightmares. I grabbed my snap-back hat while climbing down the bunk bed and went over to the Stoll brothers. They smiled at me as I followed them out.
I could hear campers chattering and the clink of metal plates and eating utensils before reaching the dining pavilion. Eyes shadowed by my hat, I took a quick look at the band of girls sitting at the Artemis table. Wearing silvery gear and with their aloof expressions every time a satyr tried to approach them, the Hunters of Artemis kept to themselves, joking amongst each other and glaring at everyone else who came close. They had entered camp with Percy and Thalia the day before by riding in Apollo's chariot. I had slept through the commotion. The Stoll brothers and I took our filled plates to the center fire to sacrifice a portion of our food. I tossed in a chunk of cooked veggies without saying anything. I wasn't in the mood to speak gods, even if it was one-sided.
We went to our table, and I sat down with Connor and Travis quietly flanking me at either side. They ate their food calmly without trying to provoke me into a playful bicker. Though the Stoll brothers pulled pranks and poked fun at everyone, they were always careful around me when I was feeling moody. Truthfully, I hadn't been on my best behavior ever since I came to camp, or rather, every since my talk with Hypnos. My temperament was unstable and I was snappish to almost everyone. Justin had tried confronting me about it at home when I refused to tell anyone about what had happened the night I met Hypnos. We almost got into a fist fight, with him yelling and me stubbornly staying silent, until Paige had ended the bad argument. Yuri let me return to camp for the winter to take a break from the mortal world, but also because my volatile temperament attracted monsters. I couldn't risk letting my family in danger more than they already were, so I flew over to the east coast once I got her permission.
Across the dining pavilion, I accidentally caught eye contact with Chiron. He had a sorrowful expression, and covertly pointed me to a kid. I glanced down our table, where a lonely young boy sat picking at his plate and glaring at the Hunter's table. It was a depressing sight and I averted my eyes. Watching Thalia and Percy, alone at their respective tables was also depressing. Come to think of it, there would be a child at each Big Three table after this arc.
The Athena table was also a gloomy sight to see. Not all of them were there, since it was winter break, but none of the grey-eyed demigods were smiling, and some even looked like they were holding back tears. In fact, not many campers were openly laughing and being rambunctious because one of their own was missing. Not everyone might have been close friends with Annabeth, but she was one of the longest staying campers at Camp Half-Blood and actively helped with camp activities, so she was a familiar presence. With her missing, there was something lacking. She was also one of the best fighters in camp, so if she was gone, it was disheartening to know that even strong demigods could succumb to dangers. Not that I was saying she's dead, of course.
"Jade?"
I looked up. It was Malcom, and it seemed like he had cried recently judging by his red-rimmed eyes.
"I was wondering, if you've had any dreams about Annabeth recently?" He asked, his voice was shaky. "Annabeth's mentioned about how you sometimes had dreams that could help, and so…"
He couldn't finish his sentence. Travis and Connor exchanged sympathising expressions at the son of Athena's obvious distress. Without Annabeth, Malcom was currently the de-facto cabin counselor, an unwelcome responsibility.
"Sorry," I said and looked down at my plate. "I haven't had any."
I didn't need dreams to know where Annabeth was being kept. I already knew, because of my past life's memories.
She's not dead, I told myself. You know that she's not dead. A month ago, before meeting Hypnos, I would have immediately said something that would have helped the search for Annabeth. But I didn't have that same ardent desire of helping demigods right now. Malcom went back to his table, dejected. If I had been keeping my gaze upwards, I would've noticed a stiff-looking Hunter watching our short conversation a table away.
"Hey Jade, there's a new kid who came to camp, and he's unclaimed," Connor ventured slowly. "Is it okay if we go talk to him?"
Usually the Stoll brothers took up the responsibility of making new kids of Cabin Eleven feel welcome. I tagged along to prevent them scamming the new unclaimed campers for the most part.
I finished the rest of my plate before standing up. "Sorry, is it okay if I head back to the cabin first?"
Travis and Connor nodded. Shoving my hands into my sweatpant pockets, I left the table. I gave a short wave to Percy and Thalia when I passed by their tables. I needed to sleep and dream. It had been almost more than two weeks and I still wasn't getting any answers close to explaining the retaining of my past memories.
The next day, I was in the tools shed with the Stoll brothers, putting away weapons that lazy demigods had neglected in the training grounds. I was still moody and not talking as much, but my temper had subsided somewhat. For now, I was content with just listening and smiling to Connor and Travis' jokes and chatter. We were almost finished with putting away all the spears and knives when a stranger walked in.
"Jade, the unclaimed? Is thee here?"
We turned around and saw that it was Zoë, the zealous lieutenant of Artemis. Connor and Travis backed away. Not many male campers liked to be within close range of the Hunters since males had a penchant of getting hurt around them.
"That'd be me," I said. "You are?"
"My name is Zoë, I serve as the lieutenant of Artemis," she introduced herself. I took a second to study her. She was tall and strikingly pretty with unique features. I would have thought that she was a princess from another ancient civilization by the way she carried herself with the same lithe grace all Hunters had in addition to the silvery glow. Although all the Hunters glowed, Zoë's coppery skin made it look even more surreal and cooler. She also glowed a little brighter than the rest of the hunters, perhaps because she had served Artemis for such a long time. Zoë also had a silver circle braided into her thick, dark hair braid.
Zoë was hot.
Connor coughed behind me, trying to catch my attention. I blinked before turning to him.
"Did you say something?"
Travis nervously said, "No, but she did."
I looked back at Zoë who seemed faintly irritated. And then I realized that I had totally been checking her out and didn't hear her question.
"Sorry, I didn't catch what you said, could you repeat that?"
The lieutenant did a dignified huff. "I asked if it is true that thee can find answers in thy dreams."
Connor cut in. "Who can find the what in whose dreams now?" Zoë immediately sent him a death stare while a hand twitched for her bow slung around her back. The son of Hermes clamped his mouth shut.
I rubbed the back of my neck. "Yeah, sometimes," I admitted. I didn't find a point in trying to lie to her. "But it's not entirely convenient, nor does it really help you find answers. You end up asking more questions and worrying more."
Speaking from personal experience, I thought grouchily. Last night's dreaming had brought up nothing useful and only led me to another nightmare. Fortunately, I was able to pull out before I got in too deep, like the night before.
"But it must be far better to know of something rather than nothing. Please, could you dream of our lady Artemis?" Zoë's voice almost took a tone of pleading.
I wavered. "Look, even if I did, you wouldn't be able to do anything about it. I heard Artemis ordered you guys to stay in camp?"
"Yes, but I had a dre-"
Zoë cut herself off when she realized that she was revealing something slightly personal. I tilted my head, waiting if she was going to finish the sentence.
"Nevermind thee," she muttered instead and stomped out. Connor and Travis released a breath that they had been holding for the past minute.
"Thank gods," Travis said as we watched her march across camp towards Chiron's office at the Big House. "She freaks me out a little."
"Well, she is intimidating," Connor added dryly.
"And pushy."
"Too serious."
I made a noncommittal sound before hanging the last knife in place. Despite what they might say, Zoë was still hot.
x
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone