Castiel
“I want answers,” Annabeth announced. Everyone knew that Chiron had information about all of this but he was keeping annoyingly quiet about it. Castiel noticed that he seemed to have a soft spot for the daughter of Athena, which bothered them. They wondered what it took to get the horse on your good side, and what three kids could have done to get so far from it.
He sighed, “This will be a long story, so forgive me if it takes some time.” He motioned for Castiel, Alexis, Percy, Annabeth, and the islanders to sit at some of the many couches scattered across the room. Castiel and Alexis sat next to each other on a red squishy leather sofa, and the girl who they remembered to be named Selene sat down on the other side of Alexis. “I also ask that you not judge me until you have heard the entire story.”
“We’re waiting,” Castiel drawled. Alexis looked a bit taken aback at Castiel's tone but she said nothing of it. She instead placed a calming hand on their shoulder, and Cas let themself be soothed.
“It all started in November of 1858 when three kids arrived at Camp Half-Blood. Their names were Castiel Holland, Treya Saldera, and Alexis Ricci.” He gestured at Castiel and Alexis. “These three were and still may be some of the most powerful human beings on the planet. Though, of course, they are only partially human. Alexis was a daughter of Poseidon and Abudantia, the goddess of luck and prosperity.”
“Sorry,” Percy cut in, “Doesn’t that make you a goddess.”
“No,” Alexis said. “Abundantia is not my birth mother. She took me in at only a few months old and raised me as her child. While I don’t have her blood, a lot of power can come from living on Olympus.”
“But what about your birth mother?” Annabeth questioned.
“I was given to her on my fifth birthday.” Alexis turned quiet after that. Castiel knew that her mother hadn’t been the most pleasant of people. It was Cas’ turn to put a comforting hand on Alexis’ knee.
“If I could continue,” said Chiron. “There is Castiel Holland, grandchild of Apollo, child of Loki and Aoidos the great siren. And then there’s Treya Saldera, Blood of the Pharaohs, Eye of Set, Daughter of Hephaestus, and possibly one of the most powerful magicians in the history of the world. After a series of… incidents occurred over the years, we decided that it would be best to separate the three-”
Annabeth cut him off impatiently, “What incidents? And who’s ‘we’?”
“I am referring to the Centurians of Camp Jupiter, the Chief Lector of the House of Life, the supreme Lord of Valhalla, Odin, and myself. These incidents caused the deaths of thousands of innocents, mortals and half-bloods alike. One such incident resulted in the burning of an entire city. We felt that it was beyond irresponsible to allow these dangerous individuals free reign over the world-”
Alexis interrupted suddenly. “I’m sorry, but you’re ignoring important context here.”
“What context?” Annabeth asked skeptically.
“It was a war. Horrible things were occurring constantly, all around us. Do not imply that we were simply acting out.”
“Which war?” Percy joined the conversation.
“The civil war,” Chiron offered.
“The civil war? The one you told us about?” Annabeth interjected. “The one that divided the camps? Why-”
“Oh, did he not tell you everything? Get used to that.” Alexis hissed.
“Young one, if I may continue with no more interruptions?” The old horse’s voice was frustratingly calm. Castiel fought the urge to fling a lamp at his face. “These incidents went beyond the costs of war, and they were more gruesome than I care to tell here. Suffice it to say, without the three of them, the war may have been a much tamer conflict.”
We were soldiers, you flea-riddled beast. Fighting in your war as children.
“Hold on-” Castiel tried to break in, to share their thoughts on it all, but Alexis interrupted.
“I don’t care what we did as children, nothing justifies what you did to us.” Her voice was venomous.
Castiel couldn’t imagine Chiron having the nerve to reply after Alexis’ words, but of course, he did.
“After the war, we took the three of them back to Camp for a time. This camp had been standing for centuries even then. I myself had trained dozens of the world's strongest demigods and mortals. It was agreed that I stood the best chance of being able to teach them control.
“But we quickly realised that there was nothing to be done. When the three of them were together, not only did they cause chaos on their own, but the appeal they had to monsters was unparalleled.”
Chiron sighed heavily. “We decided to separate them. Treya was sent to the Egyptian magicians, Castiel went to train at a Norse camp, and Alexis lived here. They were less dangerous apart.”
The centaur paused. He looked at Alexis, then at Castiel. “I am sorry to say that that is not the end. A few years after the war, you know a pact was made, that the big three gods would have no more children?”
Castiel nodded reluctantly. They had a feeling they weren’t going to like what the horse said next.
“Well, shortly after that pact, the camp Castiel was training at was attacked. We were told that the reason for their attack was to remove Castiel from the equation. They had heard about this child’s immense power, and they feared that power in the hands of another. At almost the same time, Treya was dealt with by the Egyptian magicians and removed from our plane of existence. We decided that considering the circumstances, we had to do something about the final child.”
Castiel’s ears were ringing. It was my fault. The Romans had only attacked the camp because of them.
“What did you do?” Tiny Selene asked quietly.
The centaur had the audacity to act pained. He sighed deeply, his brows furrowed. You monster.
“We sent her to Ogygia.”
There was only silence in the room.
**
After Chiron was done telling their story in the big house, he insisted on calling a camp meeting with all of the cabin councilors. He filled them in on the current situation and said something that surprised both Castiel and Alexis.
“As most of us know, the gods have been disappearing. First was Iris and Eros and then there was Hecate and Morpheus-”
“Morpheus?” Castiel jumped.
“Yes…?” The councilor of the Ares cabin, Sherman Yang replied in confusion, “why?”
“When?” Castiel demanded, ignoring the question.
“Just earlier today,” Chiron replied.
The meeting continued, but Castiel ignored it. Just yesterday they had told themself there was all the time in the world with Morpheus. Now, they had no time at all.
And they still hadn’t recovered from the rehashing of their history with camp and Chiron. He had told Castiel’s life like it was a campfire story. They had lived through that shit. They all had. There was no forgiving a mistake as horrible as the ones Chiron had made. All of the people involved in that decision would pay one day. Castiel would make sure of it.
But for now, they were stuck reliving the worst time of their short life. They couldn’t stand it. Every second they were in this camp they felt like they were back in 1865, their life and the lives of their friends on the line.
All anybody wanted to talk about was how the world was at stake, but Castiel couldn’t care less about the world. All they wanted to do was to take Alexis and run. Far, far away from their problems. Away from this camp. Away from the life that had been handed to them all those years ago.