Raven Potter

I told Nico about the dream I had last night. I told him about how I saw Triton and Posideon talk about finding Ariel despite Ariel having been in an underwater cavern filled with human things the entire time. You know.. where Ariel usually goes. Nico had no clue why that would be so obvious but he allowed me to continue on with my story. Anyway.. I told him about how I overheard Poseidon and his wife talk about Percy Jackson. Hearing that conversation gave me insight into where we could find Percy- literally! I saw where Percy was!

“ Fighting monsters that can’t be killed? Yeah, I know, cous. I was just at Camp Jupiter. “ Nico gave a shoulder shrug in response. It wasn’t as big of a surprise to him but I wondered why he hadn’t just told Annabeth yet. Before I asked, I quickly realized that that wouldn’t have been a smart idea. Annabeth needed to find Percy herself. She didn’t need Nico to show up and say that Percy had just dropped by to see the annoying neighbours across the ocean.

“ Oh.. right.” I leaned back against the pillow of my bed. I was still in the sick bay, recovering from injuries and sickness. I had bandages wrapped around my arms and upper torso. Bandages around my forehead and neck. I looked like a mummy and even made those silly little mummy or zombie hand gestures. Wiggling my fingers as if I were casting a spell. It seemed to amuse Nico.

“ Greeks.. Romans.. They hate each other.” I moved my hands around as if touching something invisible and playing with it. The air! Oxygen! They are what I need to recover faster. I looked over to Nico and smiled, “ I once had a dream that they went to war.. while Christians debated with Catholics about if Jesus Christ was God himself.”

And with that, coke came right out of Nico’s nostrils. That’s how hard the thirteen year old boy laughed at what I said or maybe it was something else in his head. He wiped his nose, mumbling about how it burns and soon spoke up, “ Yeah.. That basically happens everyday at this point. Jesus tries to escape it but that happens both up here and down there.”

Nico Di Angelo, son of Hades. One of the big three. He was the biggest dork I knew and was head over heels in love with a son of Apollo named Will Solace. Nico wasn’t exactly open about his feelings toward Will but I knew. I know my baby cousin. Nico may have been born in World War II or whatever but he was my baby cousin. Sorry if I misremembered when Nico was born. I am in the middle of experiencing technical difficulties.. I mean.. mental difficulties! I ate a little more of Ambroisa to help the healing process go faster. It was like I was filled with a bottomless pit of light and Ambroisa was making it even brighter. Adding fuel to the flame while on the outside, I likely looked like shadows and darkness. I was an eclipse. A raven. With my long dark brown hair, dark eyes as I wore some new pyjamas. I outgrew the pink nightgrown. It was a white wool tank top with a baggy fluffy pair of black pants. Ambroisa made all the pains and aches go away. It relaxed the muscles and most importantly, it helped me feel like me again. I felt healthy, strong and capable of anything yet I knew when the Ambroisa wears off, I might feel terrible again.

I placed my hand over Nico’s and suddenly I could feel his life energy and stamina. Nico had very low stamina and his life bar was about at least 79 percent. Okay. Nico won’t drop and die on me anytime soon but he really should lay down. I cupped his hand in between both of mine to give some small warmth to him. Nico looked exhausted and having coke come out your nose wasn’t the greatest feeling ever.

I watched him lay his head on the side of my bed. I could feel him breathing. I could hear his heartbeat and feel his fading pulse. I took in a breath and sung the healing incantation from Tangled. I watched him fall asleep to my voice and felt my hair grow golden again. I held my cousin close and repeated the song until I myself had fallen asleep.

I would wake up again but in an entirely different sick bay. It was a shock to the system as I looked down to make sure Nico was still with me. Yep. There he was. “ What just happened?” I whispered as the boy yawned and sat up.

“ Oh.” He blinked and looked around, “ I think I shadow travelled in my sleep. Sorry, cous.”

I stretched myself just as I heard a loud noise. A horn signalling warriors to go somewhere but where?? Bingo??

I watched as demigods in purple shirts filed out and I grabbed hold of Nico’s hand as to not lose him within the crowd of demigods.

“ Whoa! Since when did you have a twin sister, Nico?” A demigod asked while walking by. “ Nico! Good to see you again!” Smiled another demigod. I stared in confusion as one demigod after another greeted Nico but it seemed very forced as if none were willing to ignore him in fear that he might get upset. “ Do you know them?” I asked Nico. It seemed very.. what’s the word.. Formal? Military? Strict? More proper and organized than Camp Half Blood for the most part. It was less chaotic as far as I could tell. It was still loud and noisy. It was filled with teenagers and younger but I could also spot a few demigods who were full grown adults. Wha.. What? Demigods could actually live that long. Whoa. Mind blowing.

Nico looked at me and shook his head. He was getting overwhelmed and needed out of there. I got to my feet and started to look for a way out of this military level boot camp.

I kept hold of Nico’s hand and squinted to look around. Damnit! My glasses didn’t go through the shadow portal. I am going this blind I guess. I took different twists and turns, hoping to spot a way out but no such luck today. It was a very large place. Different buildings and houses. It was more like a city or a nation than a summer camp. I finally managed to get us somewhere outside at least but quickly moved into the shade of trees, stopping to check on Nico. Poor boy was being dragged along by me the entire time.

We sat down beneath the tree, taking in breaths and watched demigods walk this way and that way.

When Nico caught his breath, he wanted to explain the rules of Camp Jupiter. It wasn’t divided based on what god you are the child of but which division wanted you the most or didn’t want you the least. It was a democracy basically. Roman beliefs and roman way of life. These demigods worshipped the Roman counterparts of each of the Greek gods and goddesses.

Ares becomes Mars. Posideon becomes Neptune. Zeus becomes Jupiter. So on and so forth. I got the basic idea of the situation. In Camp Jupiter, demigods don’t leave the camp. They live here, they go to college and get a job here and even have children here. I pandered over the information a moment and decided to say, “ Sooo… Can you imagine yourself living here with Will Solace?” I gave up a playful smirk yet it took a second for Nico to fully understand why I was asking that.

Nico crossed his arms and let out a tsk like an edgy emo kid or a tsundere. I could barely hear him muttering ‘whatever’ despite a tiny smile cracking on his face and him blushing the tiniest bit. I knew my baby cousin alright.

I even knew when he became startled as his eyes widened and he jumped a little upon seeing something or someone. I followed his gaze and my eyes landed on him.. Percy Jackson, the son of Neptune. I wanted to go over there and punch him in the face. How dare he be having a blast while Annabeth is worried sick about him!! Does he not have any clue- Ohhh! Right.. Percy has no memories. I forgot. I watched as Percy walked right by us and continued to talk to his buddies. He had no idea Nico was here or who Nico even was until one of the buddies spotted Nico.

I gave Nico a gentle edge and told him to go talk to them. Nico went over after the girl had called him over. I stayed in the shade, stretching out and cracking knuckles. I must really look like something from the walking dead. It was within a moments notice that I was suddenly beneath a tree in the forest of Camp Half-Blood and Nico soon appeared to sit down beside me.

I looked over, took in a deep breath only for Nico to place hand over my mouth.

“ Do not sing that song ever again.” He bitterly whispered.

I paused and waited for him to remove his hand from over my mouth. “ .. Dang. Okay. There are other songs.” I placed hands on hips and closed one eye before I thought on what song to sing. I gave it some real thought and soon took in a breath to start singing (Don’t Fear) The Reaper. It seemed appropriate and Nico seemed to like it. Will seemed to find us right at the Romeo and Juliet part. What perfect timing!

We headed back to camp where I was put back into sick bay. Nico had to stay there too apparently. I was pretty certain he just wanted an excuse to spend more time with Will. It would be a couple more days until Leo, Piper and Jason returned from their quest and by then I was able to leave sick bay but.. you know what happened? A shiny yellow bow and arrow had appeared above my head that slowly changed into a lyre. It looks like I’m a daughter of Apollo, not Hermes. That meant I work at the sick bay now.

Anyway! I was able to leave early to welcome Leo back and tell him the great news. I arrived to the gate and waved at Leo but Leo didn’t even notice me. That was fine. Leo must just be tired or something. I hear quests can be a lot. I waited until he arrived in sick bay while I helped out my siblings treat the sick and hurt. I played my lyre and sung to them, spreading tunes of hope and healing.

I was just another daughter of Apollo to Leo now.

I didn’t have time to think on what was going on with Leo, I had to move my luggage out of the Hermes Cabin and into the Apollo Cabin. I stopped right outside the door after getting my stuff and looked once more at the old plain cabin. “ Thank you, Hermes. Without this cabin, I would have been sleeping outside.” I smiled up at the cabin and soon heard a cough.

I turned on heel to see Travis and Connor Stoll, hanging out on the perch of the cabin. I went over and sat down in the spot in the middle of the two boys one more time as just a final farewell to this cabin. “ Travis. Connor. You were basically my brothers. You kidnapped me from Apollo but I have chosen to forgive you. You guys.. looked out for me.”  I could feel myself begin to cry in the middle of that last sentence and soon we hugged it out. It had mostly been myself and them for most of the summer as a lot more kids got claimed by their parents this year. It was because of Percy Jackson telling the gods to claim their kids those years ago and now every demigod was claimed before their thirteenth or fourteenth birthday. I was thirteen going on fourteen. I was gonna miss Travis and Connor. 

I was eventually let go and I got up to pick up my things again. I wiped away tears. It was weird to be crying because I knew I would be seeing these two around camp but it would never be the same again. Travis decided to hand me something. It was an envelope with my name and address on the back and a red stamp on the front. It was like a Hogwarts Letter or something. I swear, If I open it only for the letter to start yelling at me- 

I opened it to find a handwritten letter:

Dear Raven Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1st. We await your Owl no later than July 31st. 

Yours Sincerely,

Harry Potter

“ I.. I thought Harry became a wizard cop.” I cried.

Travis and Connor looked to each other with a shoulder shrug. They also gave me a pocket knife and some wise words, “ It is never illegal when you do it around not-cops.” It seems like there were starting to be less Hermes kids around. I am definitely coming over to see them again. Travis and Connor were still my cousins or we are related somehow. Basically, they are still my family. I gave them both one last hug and soon headed off to the Apollo Cabin. Everyone there was so helpful and even reminded me when the lights were supposed to go out at night. Each of my new siblings introduced themself to me and I even saw Will Solace. 

Will was the head counsellor of the Apollo Cabin and thus it was his job to show me around. He was the nicest guy ever! He even gave me tips on healing magic. I listened and got to know my siblings. I had to eat with them during meal times now and occasionally looked over to the Stoll Brothers. It didn’t seem like they needed anyone else for them to have a good time at the Hermes table but I still tossed a nugget into the fire and whispered, “ Let there be more demigods in Cabin 11 next year.”  

I sat and ate with my siblings during breakfast but whenever I had free time between camp activities and tending to the sick, I went to see Travis and Connor. It wasn’t so often. People got poisoned, stabbed or injured at least once per week. It was starting to get super tiring. I couldn’t just keep healing people if they were just gonna go off and get hurt again. I took time out of my day to hang out with Nico. I was so exhausted by just noon of the first day being in the Apollo Cabin. So much music. So much healing. So much light. I needed a break from it all. 

“ Nico, please.. I am begging you. Stop shadow travelling when you are tired.” I spoke out of complete exhaustion and habit one morning while hanging out with my cousin. 

“ I will stop-” Nico started and stared up at me as he laid his back on the grassy dirt field, “ when you stop.”

” I barely have a moment to myself!” I hold the sides of my head as I start to curl up into myself, hyperventilating and feeling sweaty. I just wanted to be claimed- I didn’t want to become a nurse! What happened to me?! What happened to my life?! “ How can I stop when everyone in Camp Half Blood is insistent on getting hurt?”

Nico moved himself into a sitting position and stared at me for a moment. It was like he was seeing a dead person behind me and trying to decide if it was a good spirit or bad. A few seconds later, I found myself getting tackled to the ground in a hug. I wasn’t entirely sure what had just happened. I just slowly hugged Nico back and started to cry. It turned out being claimed by your godly parent wasn’t as fun as you would imagine. It wasn’t for me anyway. I could hear Nico start sniffling too. “ Raven.. I.. I’m sorry. I.. I promised that.. I .. I would sacrifice a human soul to.. to free my sister, Bianca but.. you.. I couldn’t lose you.” 

We laid there, holding onto each other and crying. I gently placed my forehead against his, letting him know that it was alright and that I probably would have gone with it if it were me. “ I’m sorry for venting at you. I.. I just don’t know how to deal with.. change.”

It was lot of crying and a lot of tears. Heartfelt apologizes for every little stupid thing we could think of that might have built up over time and grew into resentment. That moment of bonding was eventually over and we moved on to talking about Mythomagic. We both got up and walked around before separately hitting the shower. Nico was my best friend and if anyone wants to even try to hurt him, they won’t get the chance to. I would eventually spot Leo again. Nico grabbed me by the hand and walked over to him. 

Leo looked up and took notice of two thirteen year olds walking over to him while he still kept fidgeting with something in hands. “ Oh! Nico!” He smiled a little awkwardly. Nico and I stopped a good distance away from him. It was enough so that we didn’t have to shout at him but also didn’t have to smell the oil and other substances that covered Leo from head to toe. 

Leo looked between us for a moment while his impish smile started to fade for a second. Nico held up his hand only to remember he was still holding mine and soon blurted out, “ This is Raven. My best friend.” I smiled at the idea of being best friends while Leo nodded slowly and looked around as if wondering if this was all in his head.

“ Ye-yeah! Awh! Such nice best friends!” Leo encouraged while Nico was quick to let go of my hand. It didn’t make him look cool to be holding his cousin’s hand and soon the black haired boy placed his hands into his pockets while pretending to be pouty as he kicked at a rock. Leo and I just watched on for a moment. The three of us hung out together from there. We talked about what we had gotten up to over the week which led to me telling Leo that I was claimed by Apollo. 

“ Oh my- … Gods..?” Leo soon looked up at the sky as if expecting to be hit by lightning but nothing of the sort happened as he quickly moved on with a smile, “ I knew I saw you in the sick bay! Your hair kept glowing! I thought you had gotten hit by a radioactive bomb or something.”

“ No but I did sing Radioactive by Imagine Dragons.” I smiled.

Leo, Nico and I started to walk around camp together as we talked about music we liked. I wasn’t really a country fan but I did like indie music, classic rock and pop. Eventually we would come across a picnic table to sit at and that made us think about foods we liked to eat.

“ Cheese burgers!” Nico blurted out. 

“ Cheese burgers for the win!” Leo agreed.

” Oh, uh.. I haven’t eaten a cheese burger before.”  I gave a shrug.

” .. wha.. what? I thought we were just saying the words: cheese burger.” Leo noted.

” Is cheese burger really two words or is it one word?” I raised a brow.

” The way you guys are saying it, it’s two.” came Annabeth.

“ Huh? What is?” Jason asked.

” Your mom!” Leo joked.

” .. I don’t know my mom, Leo.” Jason frowned.

” .. oh.. right.” Leo looked away.

Wow.. Awkward much. Anyway! Nico and I talked about dinosaur nuggets. Nuggets shaped like dinosaurs which led to us wondering if there are nuggets shaped like any mythological creatures and that led to us talking about myths. Talking about myths would led to the picnic being overcrowded with demigods talking about different things that popped into their head because of hearing certain words.

“ I was raised by wolves..” Jason noted at one point.

“ Did the wolves make you crazy?” Leo impishly smirked and when he saw Jason nodded, he started up the rats made me crazy meme. Anyone who knew it joined in on repeating the meme over and over again. 

Eventually, we parted ways to do our thing. I was walking through the camp grounds when Chiron approached me and said he needed to discuss something with me. He was the camp director. Whatever he had to say must be important. I speed up my walking as to not be walking beside the lower half of Chiron’s horse half. Does he have two lungs?? Two stomachs?? Two hearts?? Dang. Who is he? The Doctor from Doctor Who? Anyway! I eventually was gestured to sit down at the perch of the Big House. I found that table from earlier and sat in one of the chair. Mr D isn’t here to stop me! Anddd.. there were thorns growing on the chair. I am out! 

Chiron soon cleared his throat and the vines of thorns went away. “ Raven. The Head Counselors and I have been watching your progress. You do have potential. The magic you showcased in your sparing match with Mark isn’t something we expect from a child of Apollo. We’ve looked into your ancestry.” He walked over onto the perch and walked around as he talked, making vague hand gestures before pulling out a file from the pocket of his jacket and handing it to me.

I opened it to see my birth certificate, family tree and just.. Wow. I actually got a lot of 80s in Grade School. 

“ Most demigods don’t get grades like those.” Chiron started again as he pointed to the grading papers there were in my file. I did my best to not let any- oh wait, there’s a table. I placed the file down on the table and looked over everything. It was not only the story of my life in documents but also my mom and my grandma. My great-grandma. my great-great grandma. You get it. It goes real far back in my family history. Nowhere does it show Harry Potter though. My dad however.. Yeah. It was Apollo. The guy I had lived with for the past twelve years had been Hermes. After Percy told him to do better, Hermes actually listened.

Who knew a god would listen to a twelve year old, am I right?

Hermes understood the mistake he made with Luke Castellan and didn’t want to repeat it with anyone else. He lost a lot of kids during the Titan War but he also couldn’t save Luke. “ We had suspicion you could be a daughter of Athena but Annabeth pointed out that you weren’t exactly afraid of spiders. Not on the same level as an Athena Child for the most part.” Chiron was very patient with me and explained it really good.

I pushed up my glasses and looked over the information. I really wasn’t an Athena Child. I was able to read fine. I just.. couldn’t read certain words I had no clue how to pronounce. I do really well if I am not sitting in a moving vehicle. I currently was sitting down at a round table on the perch of the Big House. It was not moving at all. Chrion’s heeves hitting the wooden floor did send off vibrations and noises though. There was also just the usual sounds of Camp Half-Blood. I learned to tune the latter out by now.

I have been here for a month and a half at the most. I wasn’t always that good at telling the time but I understand sun dials well enough to know that it was one o’clock in the afternoon. “ Yeah. I’m a child of Apollo. Where is this going, Mr Chiron?” I asked.

Chrion gave a pause as he sensed my impatience with him as if pandering either the mystery of the universe or what he should have for dinner today. He soon opened his mouth and said, “ Look over those files. It is your medical history, ancestry and school accords. It is important to familiarize ourselves with who we once were and see if we have changed for the better or for the worse.”

I shouldn’t have expected a straight answer. A simple straight forward answer. I closed up the file and took it with me as I stood up and gave a look to Chrion. “ Is there anything else? It’s one o’clock in the afternoon and I.. need a nap.” He dismissed me and I headed back to the Apollo Cabin. I immediately found my stuff, got into pyjamas and crashed into my bed. I felt that file Chiron gave me in the drawer with the ‘Hogwarts Acceptance Letter’ Travis gave me. The pocket knife was safely stored away. I had also gotten a rape whistle, piper spray and some other trinkets that may come in handy later.

The next day, I went out to the shore after reading the files. It seemed as though a son of Poseidon from many years ago had fallen in love with a daughter of Hecate. That led to my many greats grandmother having been born and that led right down to my mother being born. My mother had been adopted and that’s why this ancestry was unknown to us. It had started in England and ended in Canada. Apollo just happened to be paying Canada a visit and met my mother. He accidentally caught a fire in the old house mom was living at with a magnifying glass and from there, Hermes took over. 

Anyway! I was planning to see how much of that Posideon power I might have channeling deep inside. I was wearing clothes I didn’t mind if they got wet and covered in.. whatever is inside those waters. I slowly approached the waters of the river that ran along the side of Camp Half-Blood. I kept walking until I had to use my tiptoes to touch the bottom and eventually I found myself afloat in the cold waters. I swam around and even dived down into the salty body of water.

My eyes adjusted and soon I moved around underwater. I still had to hold my breath but I was able to find some air bubbles to use to keep this up. My hair floated in the waters as I swam. I wondered just how far I could go. I eventually discovered I could make some small.. wind water attacks like a tiny tornado. I don’t know! It was magic! Kinda like a drill. I definitely did not get that natural knowledge of the sea from my grandfather. I let out a sigh and that small breath turned into bubbles. I blew a little at the water and caused some of it to swirl around. I did my best to not disturb the sea creatures but I was still learning. 

I wanted to just explore the entire ocean but I felt myself needing to get some air and swam up to the surface. I coughed out some water upon my head breaking the top of the water and looked over to see some campers had gathered at the shoreline. I swam over to the docks and found a ladder to climb up. Once I was on docks, I checked to see if my clothes were still wet .. and they were. Same with my hair and skin. I wasn’t that powerful. I coughed once more and felt a towel wrap around me. I looked up to see.. 

a seventeen year old boy with black hair and sea foam green eyes. He looked ready to either fight a god or go fishing for a monster while he was dressed in Greek armour over top of the orange Camp Half-Blood shirt but I also noticed he had a strange tattoo on his arm: SPQR. I stared at it as I was guided back to the beach. “ Does that.. stand for Sparta?” I uttered not even above a whisper.

The boy looked down at me confused for a second and so I pointed at his tattoo. “ Oh. That. Yeah.. I became leader of a cult or something.” He remarked lightheartedly with a half smile. He made it sound like becoming a leader of cult was just an average Tuesday but it also sounded like it wasn’t just some cult either. I remember seeing that tattoo over in Camp Jupiter but I couldn’t rat Nico out like that. I didn’t say anything and just smiled. “ Soo.. Are you like.. my great-grandpa or something?”

” Ouch!” The boy placed hand over chest as if being wounded by my words but it was all just jests and joking as I could see him still smiling. we soon sat down on beach chairs. He wasn’t just any demigod. He was Percy Jackson, one of the seven heroes of Olympus. He has done more at twelve than I have done at thirteen. Everyone in camp couldn’t stop talking about the things Percy has done and how much he annoyed them. Percy leaned back and got comfortable in the beach chair. “ Uhh.. I think it’s more a great uncle than anything.” He soon decided on.

” A Grunckle?” I smiled up in turn. 

“ .. a what?” Percy blinked.

” A Grunckle! Great uncle!.. it’s from a cartoon.” I informed.

” Ohh! Ha! Yeah.. Man, maybe I am that old.”

Percy proceeded to pretend to be cracking his back like an old man would. I put hand to mouth, trying not to laugh but I only ended up laughing harder. We talked for a while. He told me about his quests in the Roman side and I told him about what has happened in Camp Half-Blood. He already knew most of it from Annabeth but he still listened to my side of the story. I even told him about how Travis and Connor really looked out for me. I mean.. those two did help Hermes kidnap me but it was for the best. Apollo wasn’t that great of a parent.

Percy didn’t look happy anymore when I mentioned Apollo now. It felt like I said something wrong. It was like I was adding more to his hatred towards the gods or something. Percy leaned forward and patted me on the head when he saw me look away. I looked back and saw him smiling again. “ Hey! Don’t stress out about it. You will always have Camp Half-Blood.” He assured me. It did make things feel less intense and it was nice to have family. Percy quickly moved on to talking about fishing and telling me about the different places he has been to over the years. A dam lounge. A dam bridge. A dam diner. He had visited someplace called Dam once.

We moved closer to the water and Percy told me about the different fish there were swimming around. They seemed to show up whenever Percy called them by name. I sat on my knees upon the beachy shore while Percy made the waters move and swirl. A little water show! It was fun to watch and I even tried to do something similar but none of what I did was as powerful as what Percy did. 

I took a look at the letter Travis gave me, I wondered if it was genuine or not. I decided to show it to Chiron. I watched as the centaur peered over the letter for a moment. It felt like an eternity before the man looked back up and said: “ It is possible that this may be real. There is only one way to find out.”

My eyes widened when I realized what he was trying to say. Chiron wanted me to go on a quest to see for myself. He didn’t even need to say the word for me to understand. I looked down at the letter once more, thinking it over and pandering. It was the middle of July and I had only two more weeks to respond to the letter. 

” I can.. bring two people with me, right?” I asked. I never learned to speak any louder or any slower when I felt nervous. I did learn how to work with my magical powers. I trained with the Hecate Cabin, Nico and Nemesis. Percy helped me out with the sword fighting by having me practice on wooden dummies and targets. I was able to really let out some built up anger and frustration. I still kept wondering about Camp Jupiter and if the Seven will be able to win them over.

“ Yes. That is our rule, Raven.” Chiron reminded me. 

I nodded and looked around until I saw Nico Di Angelo. I wanted him to come on this quest with me but I also knew it might draw way too many monsters due to Nico being a son of Hades. I took a breath and walked up to him. “ Hey, Nico. Chiron said I could go on a quest to England. Would you like to come with me?”