Anchises

Chapter Six: Move Forward

Song: Wonder, Shawn Mendes

Draco was beginning to wonder if what had been happening for the last few years (or even just the last few weeks) was actually normal for a demigod, or if future demigods would consider Draco’s generation some sort of outlier filled with bad luck. He wasn’t sure which one he hoped for more, because either he could accept that his generation just had every possible thing happen to them in a few short years, or future demigods would get used to people coming back to life and crashing Camp with not just their newly build golden dragon, but also with a formerly trapped goddess (now mortal) in tow.

Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus was apparently alive and kicking and even freed Calypso.

Draco, admittedly, had watched both in shock and amusement how Leo was tackled to the ground by not just his siblings but also Piper and other campers. Somehow though, Piper and Leo had both managed to sneak away for more privacy. Draco wasn’t sure if his sister was telling Leo about her break up with Jason or if they were organizing an IM so Leo could talk with Jason.

(Draco could still remember when Piper told them about her break up with Jason. Unexpectedly, Drew had been the first to ask if they needed to do something. Draco in the privacy of his mind had already been listing some clothes related curses to make Jason’s day-to-day slightly more inconvenient. It wasn’t until Mitchell said that he could probably get the Stoll Brother to help, that Draco remembered he could also cast a few jinxes that maybe wouldn’t harm a demigod if they worked at all.

It took a bit of convincing from Piper, but she had managed to assure them that vengeance for her honor was not needed. Her reasoning… it made Draco remember that there was a time their godly parents weren’t the best parents, but they were trying and doing better every day.)

Draco had also heard the rumors that the reunion between Percy, Annabeth and Leo was not ideal, even with Piper as the mediator. Something had happened, something involving Calypso and Percy and Annabeth and a curse. Sure, Draco and his siblings could all see that Leo and Calypso were still together, but something had shifted, they all could sense it whenever Leo was nearby Calypso. Draco had a feeling that the two wouldn’t last.

(Whatever it was, it seemed that the only other person who knew was Piper and she remained quiet about it. But they could all tell that whatever she thought of Calypso was not good, and that was more than enough for Draco and the rest of their Cabin to give the former goddess a wide-berth. Draco was not surprised to see that the rest of Camp did as well.

And then he remembered Calypso and her role in Odysseus’ story.)

But seeing Leo’s reunion with Camp Half-Blood… it really put things into perspective for Draco.

After Leo, Calypso, Lester and Meg all flew off on Festus, Draco found himself atop the hill with Thalia’s Tree and called Mother. While the IM shimmered, he played with his fingers trying to think of the words he wanted to say to his mother. Of the hurt she causes him, but also to apologize for the pain he caused her. Because he was a demigod and a long life was never assured. Leo’s resurrection was not an every-day occurrence, he was lucky. Draco may not be.

“Darling? Is everything ok?”

“Hello Mother,” he gave her a small smile, forcing his hands to still. “I…”

He gulped, unsure of what to say. Instead he closed his mouth and watched Mother who was watching him back. Her expression was unreadable, and Draco couldn’t read her emotions through the IM.

“Darling, I’m sorry for how our last conversation ended.”

“Mother--”

“Please let me finish first,” Draco nodded. “I recognize that you are a demigod, I do; however, I do not want you to forget that you are also a wizard, but punishing you to do magic was not the way to show it. You should choose to do magic, not do it because I forced it upon you my darling.”

At her words, a weight Draco didn’t know he had was lifted from his shoulders. “Thank you. But I understand. But I shouldn’t have yelled at you either, I’m sorry for that.” He shot her a quick smile, unable to meet her eyes properly. “But when you said you wanted to take me from camp… I panicked. I-- I can’t leave. I can’t."

“And you will not!” Mother assured, something hardened in her gaze. “I should not have said that and I should not have even implied returning to the Manor. I regretted it the moment I said it, darling. The Manor is not safe for you. As your mother, your safety is of the utmost importance to me and I will do anything to assure it.”

Me too Mother, Draco thought. I will do anything to keep you and my family safe.

“Thank you Mother.”

“Of course darling. I am sorry that my words let you think otherwise.”

He nodded and bit his underlip in thought. “Mother, I do not want to stop coming to Camp, but maybe I could visit every now and then?”

Her smile was wide and brilliant. “Of course darling. I would love that, and bring your friends too, I would love to meet them properly.” He grinned with a nod. “I do just have one request for you darling.”

“Yes, Mother?”

“When you start at Ilvermorny this August, I want you to take it seriously,” she continued before he could even protest. “I know you always do darling, but you have not been practicing spells like you usually do. Last summer was an exception, but this summer you have not either. I will not force you. I want you to use magic because you want to, but during the school year you will not have a choice. Demigod or not, I expected good grades both from theory and practicals. If you promise me this, I will not urge you to practice for the rest of the summer.”

Draco thought it over. It was a good request and it made sense. “Deal Mother.”

“Wonderful,” she gave him another smile before adjusting herself on the sofa once more. “Now, tell me how your summer has been so far darling.”

He grinned and stood up, recounting as much as he could, jumping ahead and backwards whenever he decided he didn’t give enough context. And if he didn’t tell Mother about Lester, Meg, the silent Oracles and the quest, well, he didn’t want to worry her for something that he wasn’t involved in. He forced down the little voice that echoed the worry everyone began to have the moment Lester was assigned his quest.

The doubt and fear of what would happen if he were to die.

***

There was something about growing up, but there was something else about being the person watching them grow up and have to leave. Even if Draco hadn’t known them for as long as other people in camp, he could still feel the gaping hole Percy, Annabeth, Clarisse, Travis and other older campers were leaving behind as they prepared to start University. They were the campers who had been at camp since Luke’s betrayal, some even before that.

They were the veterans.

The ones who survived.

And even if they were not at camp as often as they were before, their presence was still felt no matter what. Percy would still visit during the weekends to help with sword-training, Annabeth would do the same for the history lessons and Clarisse for wrestling and that was how it was going to be until they could find a proper replacement. Rumor was that Percy was considering Nico as the new instructor.

It was also felt through the building of the newest building. A large guest house designed by Annabeth with contributions from every Cabin. Percy made sure the guest house had running water (there were rumors it was always warm, but nobody could certify that). Clarisse and her siblings made sure that a weapons storage area was placed inside the guest house. Draco knew him and his siblings helped with the interior decoration, while other Cabins such as the Hecate and Hephaestus worked together to make it bigger on the inside than on the outside.

Like the Tardis… whatever that was. He thought, remembering Malcom’s hysterical laughter when Annabeth first announced the idea.

And with every day they got closer in completing the new Guest House, it was another day closer to the day the Romans would finally be able to arrive. The mode of transportation had been completed, a fascinating device that Draco couldn’t wrap his mind around. It was a giant circular gate of sorts, created through the combined mind of the Hecate, Hephaestus and Athena Cabins (alongside their Roman siblings). It had been explained during a counselor meeting, of which Piper and Mitchell both tried to explain but nobody really understood how it worked except for the demigods who made it.

Draco didn’t even bother to get an explanation from Lou or her siblings. What he had gathered from the explanation was that it managed to combine magic and technology to create a sort of gateway that only people who crossed either camp’s borders would be able to use. The exception were mortals, something Draco had asked about because he knew that Mother had been given permission to cross the border last summer. If it came down to it, he would be able to give her access to the gateway, but Draco couldn’t think of any scenarios that would lead to Mother needing the portal, especially since she never really stepped inside of Camp except for the day Draco had been given his quest.

Not that she would be able to enter anyway. At least, not without permission.

Still, Draco found himself resting easier knowing that there was a quick mode of transportation between both camps. He didn’t think anything would happen, Voldemort and his followers wouldn’t be able to find Camp, but the knowledge they had a safety net calmed something in Draco he hadn’t realized had been there.

“Draco!” Lou waved and he jogged over.

He had been walking around camp, fully aware of Harry’s presence and Draco was not above admitting that he wanted to show off Camp to Harry. He was certain that Harry had seen it many times at this point, but Draco was proud of his home and he wanted to show it off, and if he had plans to go to the arena to train… well, how could he be blamed for wanting to show off his training?

“Hey, Lou. Are you guys going to the arena?”

“Yeah. Activities are all weird with the construction,” Flavia Antonella shrugged. “Either you are keeping the kids away from the area or you are building.”

“And I love the kids, but I spent all of yesterday making sure they didn’t get into trouble.” Peter groaned, making them laugh.

“Pretty sure my siblings are taking the kids shopping today,” Draco hummed, walking beside Lou as the four of them made their way to the arena.

“And you didn’t join?!”

He rolled his eyes at Lou’s dramatic gasp, her hand clutching fake pearls and all. “I joined last time… and I slept in.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Harry shake his head in amusement.

Peter snorted and began setting up the training dummies and targets, while Draco, Lou and Flavia Antonella moved the broken ones. Whoever used it previously either forgot to clean up after themselves or were too lazy to do so. Annoying, but not uncommon. At least, the broken pile was not as big as it could have been, and many of the dummies could be fixed for future use as well. Only one or two would have to be scrapped entirely, but Draco was sure that someone would find some way to reuse some of the discarded materials.

Probably a Demeter of Hermes child, they could be particularly creative for things like that.

“So Draco, are you still getting your visits?” Draco groaned, glaring at Flavia Antonella who only grinned at him with mischief in her eyes. “What? Your Dreamwalker is not a secret.”

“You say that as if anything is a secret at Camp.”

“You cannot blame us for being curious,” Lou sang. “Come on, a mortal is Dreamwalking that is like unheard of -- especially to this extent.”

Harry furrowed his eyebrows, but there was some sort of recognition in his gaze. Draco quickly averted his eyes before he accidentally forced Harry out of the Dream. “Yeah. He’s here.”

“Wait,” Peter stopped, before gesturing to the arena with one of his throwing daggers. “Like. Here? Right now?”

“Yes.”

The three siblings shared a look before looking straight at him with wild smiles and feral gaze. Draco felt himself tense, adrenaline thrumming in his veins in anticipation of what they were going to do. His only warning was glowing red eyes, and he ducked just as a dagger was sent flying his way only for it to be pulled back by an invisible force. Draco grinned, pulling out his own sword and eyeing the multiple daggers floating around Peter.

“Oh you want to put on a show,” Draco laughed as Lou moved beside him.

Lou grinned, hair now loose as the hair-pin that held it up was instead a celestial bronze spear. “Always.”

“Peter and I versus you and Lou,” Flavia Antonella instructed, pulling at her necklace and transforming it to a sword. “Best of three. Round ends when one team is dead. Ready?”

“Set,” Peter echoed, eyes glowing brighter as some daggers were raised higher in the air.

Draco adjusted his stance, holding his sword with both hands and Lou twirled her spear, pointing the head right at their opponents. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Harry watching, eyes wide and mouth open in shock or interest Draco wasn’t sure. He also wondered, briefly, for how long Harry would be watching for if he would be there for the entire fight or just some of it.

He wondered if Harry told anyone else of his trips.

“Go!”

Draco ran forward, straight to Flavia Antonella. Lou had the longer range and would be better against Peter especially since she could use her own magic to redirect the daggers even if it wasn’t as smooth or accurate as Peter. Flavia Antonella parried his swing easily, and he dodge one of her strikes, parrying another with his own sword.

Even if Harry didn’t manage to stay during the entire fight, Draco was going to enjoy every second of it. If he pushed Flavia Antonella far enough, and if he was quick enough, maybe he could use one of his own daggers in the fight as a distraction. But he still wasn’t good enough with the sword to use it with one hand, and he couldn’t just drop it, Flavia Antonella or Peter could kick it away which would leave him with only his smaller weapons.

***

“Nyssa!” He yelled, doing his best to have his voice be heard over the noises of the forge. After their training and his and Lou’s defeat (Harry had vanished, and Draco hoped the other didn’t see their defeat), Draco had come up with an idea.

Many demigods had some sort of magic weapon or tool, either because it had been a gift from their godly parents or because the Hephaestus Cabin had been commissioned to make it. That was how Drew had gotten her own weapon which was both stylish and deadly, allowing her to even wear it while out in the mortal world. Draco wanted something similar, and the idea of it came to him after he got distracted trying to figure out how to use a long-distance weapon while keeping his sword for defense.

It had been a quick thought: if only my sword could extend at will. Like a whip.

It was why he ran out of the arena, yelling apologies for leaving the other three to clean up their mess. 

“What can we help with?” Nyssa Barrera asked, wiping her hands against her apron, an action that didn’t do anything to get rid of the black soot in them.

“Nyssa, I just got an idea on how to hide my sword,” he grinned. “And I think you and your siblings will enjoy the challenge.”

Those final words caught the attention of not just Nyssa, but all her siblings. Even if the noise didn’t die down, it had become quieter, not even bothering to hide that they were listening in to the conversation. Nyssa raised an eyebrow, but her eyes glinted with intrigue as she leaned forward on the table, head resting on her hands.

“Start talking.”