Assault on Camp
Kassandra panted, her training since the quest had been vigorous. She'd learnt a larger variety of fighting styles as she didn't want to to rely on being so sneaky, such as how to better wield a sword and shield. She'd often spar with Jason, and when they'd ban powers she found herself losing a better half of the time. But when it came to powers...
She'd achieved a greater understanding of how energy manipulation worked, and after a frustrating while finally learned how to create an item that could be physically manipulated such as a bow string, which was great when she didn't have a bow on hand.
She had also learnt how to animate objects, even if it was to a small degree. Whether it was a little spider to pull a joke on Annabeth or toy robot to amuse herself when she was bored, it was a newfound talent she had grown to be proud of.
As of now, she was sparring with Hector. It was a little risky being out in the open, but it was a short session whilst the rest of the campers ate lunch. She was using a sword, according to Hector it was vital to know how to use all forms of weaponry if she were to fight to the best of her abilities. He was one of the greatest warriors of his age, who was she to question?
"You must focus, m'lady," said the prince of Troy as he pushed Kassandra back with a simple kick to her stomach. He twirled the spear he wielded around in his hands.
"Sorry, I've just been thinking a lot."
"Care to share?"
Over the time since they'd been at camp, Hector and Kassandra had grown to know each other on a more personal level built on friendship and a liking of similar interests. The ex-huntress often shared her biggest fears and worries with the Trojan, as well as her greatest achievements and successes.
"It's... It's about my parents. I know I've been so focused on them recently, but, well you saw my father, didn't you! He was there, but the more I think about it something just felt off. I can't explain it."
"Perhaps you should speak to someone about this. You've kept all of this stress over your parents to yourself, maybe it's time to properly speak to someone who really knew your pater?"
Kassandra could tell who he was specifically referring to. Someone whom Hector had grown to respect, so it seemed natural he'd be the one the prince would recommend.
"Alright, get on in here," she sighed, summoning her crown.
With a flash, Hector vanished from sight and back into the mind of the ex-huntress. Kassandra abandoned her sword and shield to a vacant weapons wrack, heading to the Big House.
The young goddess gently pushed open the door to Chiron's office, and was greeted with music, one from a musician she'd heard the old centaur play before. The man who wrote it was called Frank something.
And nodding his head to the music was Chiron himself, sat down at his desk in wheelchair form handling paperwork. Kassandra didn't expect him to be here really, especially since lunch was on.
"Oh, Kassandra, good to see you! How's your shoulder been?" he asked.
Ever since she had revealed more about her parentage, the two hadn't spoken as much as before. They still trained in private lessons, but there was some sort of far away look in his eyes when they were together.
"Not bad, the scarring's not too bad. It's good to see you too Chiron." "Please, take a seat. What can I do for you?"
Taking a seat opposite the centaur, she stretched her legs out and fixated her eyes on a framed photograph propped up on the wall behind Chiron. It looked pretty new, maybe a year old, and she could make out the camp director in front of her in the image as well as another male, similar in height. Was that her....
Chiron noticed her staring, and turned around to see what she was looking at.
"Who is that?" she asked quietly.
The centaur stretched out an arm and grabbed it from the wall. He lay it flat out on the desk and popped the image from the frame. When it came out, a slip of paper came out with it. Chiron brushed it aside and turned the image over to reveal what it was of.
"Your father and I, the last picture we took together since he... disappeared."
In the photo her pater looked so happy. He was wearing pretty modern clothes: a flannel shirt over a t-shirt that read 'I only know how to use the coffee machine' with a cartoon picture of a coffee jug. Below his waist was cut out by the picture.
"Before the battle of Manhattan was when we took it. I suspect you were already born by then, daughter of Bellona."
She nodded. "I was with the hunters at this point, mater and pater wanted me as far from the conflict as possible."
"It was always in his nature to protect," said Chiron. "I fear he never took too much time to protect himself though."
Kassandra stared at the picture for another minute or so. There were tear stains on the picture. She could make a good guess as to whom they were from. When she looked up, Chiron's face was completely turned. He looked lost, and fragile.
"When I first met him, back in the Lakonian mountains, he was just a baby, a day old. His mother, your grandmother, had been exiled from the land of the gods due to reasons that aren't my place to disclose to you. Hermes gave him to me, all swaddled up in cloth. Said that by orders of Zeus I was to raise the boy and he was to assist me in training the children of the gods."
Kassandra got the feeling he wasn't talking to her, but simply speaking his memories and thoughts aloud.
"What was he like, when he was a child? Before he stopped ageing?" Chiron chuckled. "Oh, he was the most curious little boy. He'd wander the mountains looking for herbs and vegetation to bring back to the cave we resided in, like how a cat brings back it's prey to its owner. Nature spirits would visit to meet him, the child cursed from birth. When he was 10, he started to learn how to treat wounds. He had learnt everything there was to know about healing before he even touched a blade."
"He sounds very different than he is- was now."
"I think age did that to him. Seeing so many fall, so many people out of his reach."
Kassandra tightened her hand into a fist. "It was all my grandfather's fault, Asclepius. Father would rarely talk of him, but I know he abandoned (Y/N), left him to the mercy of others at birth."
"Not completely," said Chiron, shaking his head. "When (Y/N) was brought to me, he also came with his father's symbol of power, the rod of Asclepius. When (Y/N) ascended to godhood and received his own symbol of power, he took it back. But it served him well for thousands of years, removing the restriction of power he had as a demigod."
Kassandra hadn't really heard that part of the story before. Perhaps Asclepius wasn't as much a villain as she believe him to be. Her gaze turned to the folded paper Chiron had pushed to the side. When Chiron followed her gaze, he took the paper in his hands protectively.
He unfolded it and read the writing, which was in a strong enough ink to be seen through the paper. When he was done with it, he tossed it onto the desk and it slid over to Kassandra. A tear rolled down Chiron's eye. Through all the pain Kassandra had seen the centaur go through, she had never seen him she'd a tear.
"Before he disappeared, (Y/N) wrote this. It appeared on my desk with the photo when I returned from the battle of Manhattan, and I still don't know how it got here exactly." The daughter of Bellona took the note in her hands and flipped it over, and began to read.
Dear Chiron,
I'm not very good with words, but I'll try my best. If you're reading this, I'll likely not be returning to camp for a while. There have been complications recently, and I don't wish to concern you with them. I write this to tell you what I don't think Annabeth and Percy can.
You have been there for me throughout my entire life, from Greece to Long Island, and I can only wish I could properly return the favour. I may call you uncle, but you were such a father figure to me no one can really rival that position in my eyes. Teaching demigods throughout the years has been a real adventure with you, something that could go down in the history books books alongside Heracles and Odysseus.
And more so recently, ever since Percy Jackson showed up at Camp Half Blood my odyssey has taken turns I could have never imagined. But whether it was returning from the sea of monsters, or losing my love Elara, you have been there every step of the way. And for that I have no words besides those of thankfulness. Thank you for guiding my hand, thank you for guiding my mind, and thank you for guiding my soul.
I can only wish to all the Olympians and Cthonics that we meet again, and when we do that we can have time together without worrying about our students. Maybe I'll be able to take a proper look at your leg, I know it's been incurable ever since Heracles accidentally shot you. I could write a letter the length of Homers works, but now I must take my leave and finish my part.
Your nephew and assistant,
(Y/N) (L/N)
Kassandra put her hand to her mouth to muffle a sob. She was so confused, he seemed so sure he'd disappear yet she had seen him on her quest with the three newcomers. Why could anyone just explain this to her? And Chiron, she had no proper idea just how close he and (Y/N) had been. Together as adopted family for almost three thousand years, enduring through so much agony together. She couldn't bring herself to look up and into the eyes of Chiron. Yet she did.
His eyes were raw, blood red and leaking tears. He had read that letter everyday since his nephew had gone missing, and only now with the daughter of his nephew across from him had he really lost himself over it properly.
Just when Kassandra went to speak, the door to the office burst open, and Annabeth came through, wearing her regular orange camp shirt and jeans.
"There's new arrivals!" she said excitedly.
Her mood since discovering the most likely location of Percy, at camp Jupiter, had drastically improved.
"They're at Thalia's tree, two brothers by the looks of it. Clarisse has gone to greet them, but I figured you should know to properly bring them in."
Two brothers? Something just didn't seem right, her 'sixth sense' was going off. Then Kassandra froze. An aura of raw power washed over her like a tsunami, drowning her senses. The only time she had felt power this strong was when she was in the presence of Lady Artemis. If she was right, she had to get Clarisse out of there, and fast.
"Get the campers ready for battle," Kassandra said bluntly, getting up from her chair and wiping her eyes of tears.
"Why? What's wrong?" asked Chiron, him also wiping his eyes.
Anyone in their line of business got to act on their own emotional accord for longer than a few minutes before something happened. But then the hairs in his arm pricked up, as if he too could sense something.
"Those aren't demigods, they're enemies. I'll buy some time whilst you prepare the campers. All hands on deck," she said before blitzing out the room, leaving a confused Annabeth and a recovering Chiron.
Kassandra appeared at the top of Half-Blood hill just as Clarisse did, but in a flash of dust. And right there before the two of them were just who she had been expecting.
Ikari lay against Thalia's tree enjoying the sun, still in the same old hoodies and jeans. Ikari on the other hand stood tall, wearing... What the hell? A Hawaiian shirt and blue shorts with flip flops? Was this really the same sorcerer she had been fearing all this time?
"Ahh Kassandra, here to greet the newbies?" asked Clarisse, cracking her knuckles. Little did she know these ones would not be her victims.
"Clarisse, get back to the camp and group up with the others. Grab your armour and weapons."
La Rue looked at her with confusion. "Why?"
"Just do it!" she shouted, pushing her hand backwards. Suddenly, a wall of energy appeared out of nowhere and pushed Clarisse back. The daughter of war wasn't one to back down so easy, but she knew not to mess with a goddess, even one not fully formed. The immortals were of a different race than those who walked the earth. And so the daughter of war ran down the hill.
Then Kassandra turned back to her opponents. "What are you two doing here?"
Then it clicked in her mind. Ikari was leaning on the tree. And Ichiro stood in front of him. They were inside of camp borders. She instantly backed up and drew her knives. Even though she had been training with other weapons, bows and daggers would always be her most efficient weapons.
"Yes, your little border won't protect you here," gloated Ikari, standing and cracking his neck. The noise sounded like rocks grinding against each other.
Down below in the valley of camp, the demi-gods and many nature spirits/satyrs had gathered in battle armour. Thankfully Chiron and Clarisse had taken her seriously.
"We're here for... what are we here for again?" asked Ichiro, rubbing his chin in confusion. If it weren't for the reputation Kassandra had built up for him in her mind, she wouldn't be taking hims seriously.
"To destroy the camp!" beamed Ikari his hands tightening to fists as he took an offensive position.
"Oh yeah, that," said Ichiro, twisting his hands. From them curled off ash, but a lot more than Kassandra had seen before. In no time, there must have been a hundred or so empousas, skeletons and dracaena, all wearing armour and bearing weapons. Behind them all, an air force of thirty harpies floated in the air accompanied by two hell hounds that could have rivalled the size of Cerberus.
"Dibs on Kassandra!" called out Ikari with glee.
"Then I'll take the rest of them," responded Ichiro, raising a single finger to the sky. She'd have to trust Jason could lead the demigods as well as Percy could into battle. When he pointed forwards, the entire army rushed forwards, past Kassandra and into the valley below.
Meanwhile, Ikari bound forwards with blinding speed and punched the daughter of Bellona in the gut, sending her flying from the hill and into the forests.
When Kassandra came crashing down into the forest, she actually landed on her feet. The impact was powerful enough to leave a miniature crater, but she didn't really feel it. As she brushed herself off, she grabbed her daggers which had fallen not far from her.
Touching her 'crown' she dissolved the thing and from it jumped Hector.
"What's the course of action m'lady?" he asked, helmet already on and sword drawn with a lengthy javelin/pilum/spear on his back.
"Can you make yourself invisible to the eyes of mortals?" she asked.
"Yes, though monsters and gods can still see me."
"Great. I need you to do exactly that and make haste back to camp. Ichiro is far too dangerous to be handled by even powerful warriors like Jason and Annabeth. Besides, he has far too large of an arsenal of monsters for the demigods to handle, he can just keep re-summoning them. So go help them, I'll be fine here."
With a nod, the spirit of Prince Hector took off in a dust storm. Now to deal with the other monster. She stood defensively, ready for him to appear from any direction.
Luckily, Ikari took no such approach. He slammed down into the earth from above, right in front of Kassandra. Yet when he landed, he left no trace of impact on the ground. Weird.
"I can see you've gotten stronger since our last encounter. I hope you can provide some much promised entertainment this time."
The ex-huntress narrowed her brows. "I will provide much more than entertainment." She sheathed her daggers, reconsidering her plan of attack.
Ikari laughed. That damn laugh was driving her insane. "Then please, do show!"
Kassandra initiated. She darted forwards just like at the palace of Aeolus, but instead of going for him directly she changed her charge to his legs in a dive motion. And it paid off. Sure, Ikari seemed faster, but Kassandra was smarter.
When she was a pace or two from him, she dropped to the ground and planted her left hand firmly on the ground. Then, like some sort of break dancer, she swept her right leg straight at his legs. He shouldn't have been able to react in time. Yet still...
As if the earth itself moved, her arm was yanked backwards and she lost proper balance, for the kick. Determined though, she found herself moving her lower body up and into the air. She wrapped her legs around Ikari's neck, and used him to swing herself around to get back up to her feet. The whole move took a mere second or two.
Now she was behind the brother, Kassandra hoped she could play more aggressive, but Ikari had other plans. From his pockets he drew the same pocket knives and spun around, slashing wildly yet with extreme accuracy. The daughter of Bellona threw her arms up to cover face, and she quickly enforced her arms with a plate of energy like armour.
The onslaught of slashes was rapid, a few strikes getting past her protection and leaving thin cuts on her arms. However they were too small to have any effect on her, and she could feel her body already closing up the wounds.
Kassandra had been forced to give up valuable ground, taking slow but steady steps backwards whilst Ikari pushed forwards with pleasure. The ex-huntress studies his attacks. They were random and wild, but she was looking for some sort of pattern, something that she could play to her advantage. And then she saw it.
When he arched his arm over his head to cut downwards, there was a small window of opportunity to sneak a hit in. She just had to wait for a chance for him to slip up.
Just when she was getting close to being pressed against a tree, she found her opening. It would have been more effective to plunge a blade into the opening, but her fist would do just fine. Dropping her left arm, it moved like lightning, striking hard and fast with pin point accuracy.
It hit hard enough to temporarily stun Ikari, allowing just a little more breathing room. Kassandra had to make the most of the opportunity.
She lashed her arms out in a whip-like motion, and from her hands sprung golden chains with jagged tips. The goddess swung her arms like an octopus. She had watched Percy help one once and been mesmerised with their ability to control such long limbs, she just had to try it herself.
And it seemed effective. The ends whipped and snapped at Ikari, the aggressor stumbling backwards and out of control. He had no idea what to do in this situation. For ten, maybe even twenty seconds, she spun, twirled and rotated her arms like a flag dancer.
Ikari growled with every step he dropped back, unable to keep his body defended as the attacks came from every direction, assaulting his face, chest, legs and arms. With every slash a small wound opened up, and though Kassandra didn't take notice, something other than blood poured from the wounds.
Eventually, Ikari seemed to reach his limit. He stopped trying to defend himself and lashed out, grabbing the chains with his bare hands. The spikes impaled through his palms, but he didn't care. He couldn't even feel it.
With a grunt, he swung the chains, and Kassandra too, around in a circle. Her body smashed into a few oaks and pines, the trees falling. She could hear the faint whispers of nature spirits watching the fight, and the outrage of their homes being attacked. Kassandra would make sure to try and fix them up, or at least get a Demeter kid on the job.
To avoid further damage to their surroundings, she dissipated the chains and landed about twenty metres or so from Ikari.
"I guess you are a little better, or maybe I'm having a bad day," he said, shrugging. "Either way, I guess I have to take this a little more seriously-"
Kassandra wasn't in the mood for some long narrative/villain speech, so she produced a bow and fired three shots in quick succession. They were strong shots, and almost caught Ikari off guard. Almost.
He caught two with his hands, and the third whistled past his head. Then he curled his hands into fists, the arrows fading to golden dust.
"I see you've developed a new ability. Energy manipulation, impressive for someone of your age. I guess it's only fair that I level the playing field."
Slamming his foot into the ground, the very earth seemed to tremble, and suddenly the rocks and soil began to crawl up his leg like a snake would. As it moved upwards, Ikari put his hand to his chest and ripped off his hoodie, the material cleaved in two. He threw the ruined clothing aside. Ruining the hoodie wasn't what caught Kassandra of guard though, it was what was underneath.
His chest was cracked like a rock struck with a hammer. The cuts she had inflicted oozed a golden fluid that smelled strongly. There was a sickly sweet smell present, which at first confused her before she realised it was the liquid itself. It reminded her of something, she just couldn't put her finger on it.
Ikari laughed. "I'm sure you recognise the smell. You gods just love the stuff."
She suddenly felt a little queasy. "Is that..."
"Nectar? Yep! Don't go slurping from my cuts though, I need the stuff to keep going."
"How did you get your hands on that stuff?"
"My brother. He's always got some sort of method or plan cooked up."
At that point, the rocks and earth had already covered Ikari's chest and limbs, sealing the wounds and smell away. The dirt and stone had almost become an armour for him, allowing him to still move with fluidity whilst covering every inch of his body. It was still rising up his neck, a helmet maybe?
"So... what's the deal with this?" she asked, gesturing to the earth rising up his neck. She may be in the middle of a fight, but she was still curious.
"My power. I don't usually use it when I fight, I prefer raw strength and physical attributes."
He seemed a lot more calmed down, this guy was a weird case.
"What, is your power, being confusing as hell? Are you going to expand on any of that?"
The material finished covering Ikari's face, his entire body covered now.
The armour was more stone than anything, but it had some pretty features such as flowers and vines that seemed to be growing and blooming from various patches of soil that coated the armour. The 'helmet' was like bark, rough texture and various gradients of brown colours with patches of moss. Branches extended from all parts of it, bare and sharp. The thing was completely sealed too, no eye holes or even a way to breath.
Yet Ikari spoke once more. The voice didn't come from him though, she couldn't tell where it was coming from. It reeked of strength though, and it echoed through the forest like a gust of powerful wind.
"A hereditary power. Control over the natural world."
Now that caught the goddess of guard. She had no idea who could pass that power on that was still around today to do so. The reveal of Ikari's powers seemed to shake the camp to its core. Kassandra didn't know it, but all of a sudden the trees that had been knocked down suddenly found new roots and began to regrow at an unnatural speed.
The ex-huntress didn't really know what to do. She had no idea just how much control over his powers Ikari had and whether or not this new suit of armour would impact the chances of her winning the fight. But, she had learned from her mother that when something was of a concerning nature, you should expand your borders and bring it under your own control.
And so, with that message in her mind, she strung her bow once more. The bow went taut, and the arrow fired. The projectile whistled through the air at speeds Kassandra had never before achieved at practice.
And with a satisfying thunk, it embedded right into the neck of the armour. She couldn't see it, but beneath the helmet Ikari grimaced and winced slightly.
"My brother warned me about you. Said our abilities were a bad match up on my behalf."
It made sense. The gods were anything but natural, so it made sense that for a being who could control the natural world, the gods and their techniques would play perfectly against his. Maybe for once fate was on her side.
"Then maybe you'll be entertainment for me," laughed Kassandra, getting ready to quick draw another projectile.
Ikari laughed too. "Perhaps."
Then, as the daughter of Rome fired her shot the nature-demon rushed forwards. The two forces collided, and it was Ikari who won the clash. With his forearm he batted the arrow away and moved forwards through the air like a drill.
Coming up with what she believed to be the best course of action, Kassandra dissolved her bow and jumped backwards, launching herself from the ground and into the tree line behind her. As she found refuge amongst the branches, the ground bent to Ikari's will, and suddenly he had the best possible position to take off at her again.
When she went to disengage through the leaves, she found that something had taken a grip on her ankle. When she looked down, much to her horror a branch had snaked around the limb and was tightly holding onto her. Luckily, she could cut the wood with ease thanks to her dagger just before the nature-demon pounced on her.
The trees wouldn't be a good fighting ground, and neither would the forest. It would be places like this where he was the strongest. So she'd just have to lead him out of the forest area, and into somewhere more open, like the flat camp grounds.
Dropping to the floor, she readied a fighting stance, baiting Ikari to also drop and take on a similar position. However, the second he stopped moving Kassandra spun on her heel and took off as fast as she could in the opposite direction. The challenger rolled his head to one side, before understanding and chasing after her.
On a few occasions roots tried to ensnare her and the earth rumbled beneath her feet, but with great speed and stamina she made it out of the forest. To slow down the demon behind her, Kassandra took a few shots every now and then along with obstructing the path behind her with spikes and walls of golden energy.
When she burst out and into the flat lands of camp, the daughter of Bellona found absolute carnage. Throughout the mess hall, cabins and training arena, the fighting between demigods and nature spirits against monsters was brutal.
Overhead, the camp harpies battled with their aggressive sisters, and it seemed that in the canoe lake a sea beast had begun to make combat with anything that got near it. The hell hounds had begun to wreak havoc on the strawberry fields. She could only hoped Hector was out there saving as many lives as possible.
"Chaos, it fuels me," laughed Ikari, appearing behind her.
"I thought that was nectar, you puppet," snarled Kassandra. Camp Half-Blood wasn't her true home, yet it was home to her friends and those she had come to call family.
"Puppet? That's a new one."
And without a moment more, Ikari snapped forwards and made a stab for the daughter of (Y/N)'s stomach. Normally, she would have dodged, sidestepped or even making some sort of counter move. But she was so caught up in the destruction of camp and the cries of combat that she didn't even move, let alone react when a part of Ikari's armour pierced her stomach.
It tore through her flesh, not without struggle though, and rested where it had pierced the body. The nature-demon was shocked he had landed such an attack, but the shock was quickly replaced with a sense of victory.
For Kassandra, it was her wake up call. The pain was... well painful, but it was more like how an ice bath feels; shocking for a moment before getting used to the feeling. She could practically feel air blow through the open wound as golden fluid dripped out. Her brows narrowed. For a goddess like her to be struck by such a lowly monster, it was insulting.
She grabbed the sharp stone, which was actually a part of Ikari's fist. And with a blank face, she twisted it roughly. The challengers eyes snapped open comically large beneath his helmet, and within a second the entire hand that was inside of Kassandra's stomach was snapped off. With blinding speed, she swung the bladed hand and impaled it into the owner's chest. Tit for tat as they said.
For a second, they both just stood there, mesmerised by the amount of pain they were in, both their golden fluids now mixing on the floor. This time it was Kassandra who managed to break from her trance first. She took out her daggers and began to stab, slice and slash Ikari's body, her face becoming covered in nectar. She licked the stuff off her lips, and it was delicious.
Ikari snapped out of his shock not too long, and with his remaining hand began to gut and slice the daughter of Bellona's stomach and chest. Neither of them bothered to try and block the others assault on their body, it's as if both had lost their ability to feel pain. What had started as a battle of intelligence and skill had quickly fallen into one of raw strength and durability. Athena had abandoned their fight in exchange for Ares.
It was just a matter of who would submit to pain first.
In the end, it was Ikari. After a rough minute of pure agony and torture, the armoured demon fell to the ground, his eyes rolling to the back of his head and falling unconscious. Kassandra laughed weakly at her victory, before she too collapsed in a messy heap.
"...there? Are you there, Kassandra? Hello?"
The daughter of Bellona awoke with a sudden start, throwing herself off the bed she had been set to lie in. Her weapons had gone, and instead of wearing a white chiton she was now wearing a yellow hospital gown with blue polka dots.
"WHERE THE- oh, it's you Will."
Backed up to the corner of the medical booth was Will Solace, son of Apollo and arguably the best doctor at camp. If there was something wrong, this was the guy you wanted on the job.
"Uhh, yeah, it's me." The boy fumbled with the stethoscope around his neck. "I'm going to be honest, I didn't think you'd wake up so early."
"So early? How long have I been out?"
"About a month and a half."
"A month and a half!" she yelled, scrambling back over to her bed to take a seat. She looked down at her hands as if she expected them to be wrinkled, before remembering she was a goddess and thus didn't age. Then she remembered just how she'd fallen into such a state.
"Ikari! The nature demon, one with the stone armour and wooden mask, what happened to him?"
Will looked confused for a moment before he visibly remembered. "Well, when we found you he was gone, and all that remained of him was the mixture of nectar with your blood. Annabeth suspects that he was taken from the battle by the summoner-"
"Ichiro, he calls himself Ichiro."
"Yeah, Ichiro must have taken him and withdrawn. I'm not afraid to admit that if he didn't need to flee to save him then Ichiro probably would have destroyed the camp. I was with my brothers and sisters holding the medical bay, and it seemed that every time we shot down a monster they got right back up, like out celestial bronze wasn't working."
"What about Jason, and Annabeth and Leo and Piper? And Chiron? And Aspen?"
Gods, how could she have been so foolish to let herself be distracted by the nature demon? For all she knew, they could all be six feet under and she'd be none the wiser. Kassandra had seen Aspen fight before, and with no offence to her girlfriend fighting wasn't her best talent. That was probably disabling Kassandra's ability to coherently talk.
"Well, Annabeth was with Chiron fighting the hell hounds, and they weren't doing so badly until they were overwhelmed by harpies. A few Ares kids managed to help them hold out, but both were beaten pretty bad. Annabeth had stitches for a week and Chiron needed a cast for his leg, but besides that they both got off pretty okay."
She could imagine Hector out there helping where he could. When she felt her forehead her diadem wasn't there, so she wondered where he could be.
"Then there was Piper, Jason and Leo. They fought really well together, like some sort of machine. Together, they took on Ichiro. Unfortunately, even though they were built to fight as one, what I saw of Ichiro was a monster himself. Somehow he could predict every move thrown at him and counter perfectly. His fighting style was a mixture of so many from around the world, I couldn't pin point it, not even Malcolm or anyone else in the Athena cabin."
So the guy possessed a powerful ability and could fight? She almost looked forward to meeting him once more to see what exactly he was capable of.
"But... what about Aspen?"
She was her top priority right now. If all of the camp burnt down, that would pale in comparison to her grief if something even happened to her girlfriend.
"She's the nature spirit you're dating right?"
Kassandra eagerly nodded. Even after... well they had to have been dating for five and a half months now, she still couldn't believe someone as beautiful as Aspen chose her, her!
Solace turned around and grabbed a clipboard from the wall. He filed through various papers before coming across one that seemed to satisfy what he was looking for.
"Aspen, nature spirit, unknown age. Wounded by... a hell hound bite."
It didn't sound like a mortal wound, but then she remembered just how enormous the hell hounds had been.
"But is she okay?"
"From what I've got here the wound wasn't that bad, she was grabbed by the shoulder whilst protecting some of the younger children of Hermes out in the strawberry fields. Luckily they tossed her aside when they got distracted by Chiron."
Gods, she'd have to thank Chiron later.
"Well, I'll go see her, probably not the best relationship move to. Thanks for healing me up or whatever it is you've done to me."
Will put a hand up as if he were to stop her, but then realised it would be pointless. So without any resistance, Kassandra got up and pulled the privacy curtain aside, marching out of the facility. Just as she got to the exit, she turned around.
"What's with the yellow gowns? Don't you usually do white?"
"We do. It's just that when we had to cut your chiton off and put the gown on you were still bleeding. No one wanted to change you again, touching a goddess whilst unconscious would probably have us smited by your mother which is why you're still wearing it. So yeah, I'd change out of that soon if I were you."
Kassandra's first stop was back at her cabin, where everything was exactly as she remembered. She threw on a standard orange camp shirt and some jeans Annabeth had gifted her a while back, and threw the hospital gown in the trash. When she went upstairs though, something seemed off.
Peering into her fathers room, the potted plant that still resided on the window had grown just a little bit more. It was still tiny, a few leaves that soaked up the sun light but nothing more. It was cute, maybe she'd show Aspen. She still couldn't wrap her head around why her mother felt the need to give it to her though.
She waved the feeling off and left the cabin, heading straight for the forests to try and find Aspens tree. She could try and find her then from there.
As she walked she got a few looks, a couple hellos and plenty of waves, all of which were reciprocated. The camp looked completely normal, as if there never was an attack. And as she entered the forest, there were no signs of her and Ikari's fight.
Kassandra had been around with Aspen to her tree quite a few times. She had to say it was a pretty tree, with absolutely beautiful orange and yellow leaves. The bark was white with little black strips around it. After a while into dating, the nature spirit had shown that on her chest she had similar markings.
She arrived at her girlfriends tree soon enough, and luckily there she was, surrounded by four other nymphs. They were talking about something, but when Kassandra got close enough to hear they stopped.
"Kassandra!" squealed Aspen with delight, rushing over to the daughter of Bellona and suffocating her in an enveloping hug. Then there was the kiss, and the ex-huntress was forced to pull away first for air.
"It's good to see you too," smiled Kassandra, picking up her girlfriend by the waist and twirling her around whilst they both giggled like children.
"We'll leave you two to spend some time together," waved one of the nymphs, and the four trotted off.
Eventually, after much shenanigans, Kassandra set down the tree nymph and the two took seats opposite each other.
"So, I'm, uhh, sorry about not being around for the last month and a bit-"
"You're damn right you are!" burst out Aspen. "You know how stupid that was of you to go getting wounded like that! You could have died! I visited you everyday on that bed wondering if you'd ever wake up!"
Kassandra was about to point out that she was a goddess and so a lot more would be needed to properly kill her, but she feared that making such a remark would actually get her killed.
"I know, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Now she could properly see Aspen, she noticed something out of the ordinary. Her shoulder was covered by a white cloth, almost like a bandage. Of course, how had she forgotten? Standing up, she took a step towards her girlfriend and looked down on her.
"Now we've discussed my wound, let's take a look at yours."
Aspen feigned a laugh. "It's nothing serious, just a scratch. It'll heal soon enough-"
She couldn't finish her sentence before Kassandra took a fistful of the cloth and lifted it from the wound. She gasped.
Her pale skin had been bitten, the huge outline of bite marks on her shoulder that she could tell had been healing for quite some time already. There was scarring now.
"This isn't some minor injury!" cried out Kassandra, gently placing her hand on the scars to feel the patterned skin. "And here you are criticising me being stupid!"
Aspen looked away. "There were children, I had to put myself between them and the hell hounds. If not they wouldn't have been able to get to safety. But still, one of them..."
The nature spirit choked back a sob, and pushed her head down into her lap and began to weep. Kassandra's eyes softened and she could almost hear something inside of her break like glass.
"If I had just held out a little longer then that kid could have had more time to get away, but I-"
"Hey, you can't think like that," ushered Kassandra, taking a seat next to her lover. "Whatever happened out there can't be blamed on you, those were powerful monsters that even Chiron and Annabeth seemed to struggle against, you did the best you could."
She placed an arm over Aspen and the nature spirit leaned her head into Kassandra's chest. There was a somewhat mourning silence, the two just absorbing it all.
"At least we have matching shoulder scars now," said the goddess quietly, her voice almost overridden by the wind. That earned a little laugh from Aspen.
"Yeah, I guess we do."
*1 day after the assault on camp half-blood
"You're such an idiot," groaned Ichiro as he walked down a desert highway, two harpies floating in the air after him. With their talons they carried the armoured body of his brother by one of the thorned horns like a puppet on strings.
"I'm not an idiot," whined Ikari, golden fluid dripping from his mouth.
"Firstly you make me drop my plans with the only person I truly care about. Then when I do start enjoying myself, you go and get yourself knocked unconscious to further ruin my time. Maybe I should have just left you back there."
"You don't really mean that," slurred a half conscious Ikari, nectar leaking from the hundred stab wounds he had received. He went to smack his brother on the back, before realising he had lost the hand he needed.
"I do. You know, Kassandra may be a counter to your technique, but that doesn't mean she should be able to beat you in a fight. And besides, what the hell were you thinking with your little stabbing contest."
Underneath his helmet, Ikari rolled his eyes as the armour began to fall from his skin until he was back in his hoody and normal clothes. Except it was all pierced with holes and slashes. When his helmet fell off, he was dropped to the ground by the harpies, who then fell to dust. Ikari was forced to walk.
"Where are we?" asked the nectar-boy.
"Death valley," responded Ichiro. "We're halfway through."
"What are we doing here?" Ikari looked around as he stumbled forwards, his body slowly and painfully stitching itself back up. "And why are we walking? Don't you have some sort of monster that can fly us around or something like that?"
"We're on our way to find someone who's been evading me recently. And to answer the latter, I'm in no rush to go anywhere, so I'm fine taking my time. I find that walks can be refreshing to the mind."
The nature demon rolled his eyes. "And why do I have to be here?"
"Because you always wind up in some stupid situation when you're alone, and besides there wasn't anywhere to drop you off between here and the demigod camp."
For the next ten minutes they walked in silence, before it was Ichiro who broke it.
"What was Kassandra like?" he asked, still not turning to look at his brother behind him.
"She was snarky and quick tongued, but at the same time her youth and lack of proper experience shines through all that."
"I mean as a fighter."
"Oh, sorry." He put his hand to his neck. "She's pretty good and well calculated, her fighting style is sort of unknown. She was trained by her parents, hunters and Greeks so she sort of mixes it all into one style. She's definitely aggressive, but knows when to back off and how to properly defend herself. I believe that at the end of our duel she just got carried away."
"Interesting," said Ichiro, rubbing his chin.
"What about the children of the prophecy? How were they?"
"Good, I'll give them that. Couldn't land a hit on me, but not many can. I think next time you'll be at a better match against those three. I'd quite like to try out some things with Kassandra (L/N), she has most definitely peaked my interests. But for now, we have other priorities."
"Like your boyfriend?" snicked Ikari, earning a punch to the gut which sent him sprawling on his back. Ichiro turned around and kept walking.