This Dark Night ― Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase¹

―xxiii. claimed at last

THE REVELATION CAME IN SEPTEMBER. The leaves outside of the camp borders turned orange and yellow and red. Argus went into town and returned with a trailer full of pumpkins and squash to decorate the cabins and the Big House. Autumn was here.  

"I think Mr. Scarecrow needs a hat," Silena Beauregard declared. "Something with a wide brim." 

"First off, we are not naming him 'Mr. Scarecrow,'" Miranda from the Demeter cabin said. "Second, every scarecrow has a hat. Don't we want him to be unique?" 

"Hats are in fashion," Silena argued. "Besides, he's supposed to look like a farmer, and farmers wear hats!" 

"I have a straw hat in my trunk," Asher—also from the Demeter cabin—said. 

From his spot in the grass next to Naomi, Ethan snorted. "Why do you have a straw hat just lying around?" 

"I'm a child of Demeter, it's my brand, Nakamura," Asher said smartly. 

"Speak for yourself," Miranda protested. "That hat's the ugliest thing I've ever seen." 

"Funny, I was gonna say the same about your face," Asher shot back. 

"Listen here, you little—"

Clarisse stormed over to the assembled demigods with a dinged up breastplate in her hands. She threw them onto the ground in front of the half-finished scarecrow. "There, I got the armor. Can I go now?" 

"This is a group activity, Clarisse," Silena chided. "We're bonding." 

"I don't want to bond with you losers," Clarisse protested. "And even if I wanted to, I'd just kick all of your asses in the arena. That's bonding." 

Silena rolled her eyes. "Sit, or I'll have Chiron revoke your dessert privileges." 

Clarisse grumbled something under her breath, but sat down on one of the bales of hay the Demeter cabin had collected.

"You guys seriously do this every year?" Naomi whispered to Ethan as Silena and Miranda continued to argue over the scarecrow's fashion choices. 

"Yeah, but this is the first year Silena's been this enthusiastic about it," Ethan explained. "Figure it has something to do with... y'know..." 

Luke. 

Luke's betrayal had shaken the very bedrock of Camp Half-Blood. The Hermes cabin—which had emptied out enough with the departure of summer-only campers for everyone to get a bunk—had been hit the hardest by what Luke had done. The Stolls hadn't pulled a single prank since Chiron made the announcement, and from what Naomi had heard, that was very unlike them. 

It had been over a month since the end of the summer session—a silent month in terms of claiming. Naomi was starting to lose hope that she'd ever see a symbol appear over her head. Now, she was trying to come to terms with the possibility of never knowing who her godly parent is, like a few other unfortunate half-bloods at camp. 

"It's nice," Naomi said quietly. "That we're doing this. Bonding." 

Ethan snorted. "Don't let Clarisse hear you." 

The sound of galloping hooves made most of the campers look up. Chiron made their way toward the group, nodding appreciatively at the scarecrow. "An excellent job, as always, campers." 

"Hat or no hat, Chiron?" Miranda asked. 

"You can't go wrong with an accessory, I don't think," Chiron answered. 

"Ha!" Silena grinned triumphantly. "Asher, the hat, please?" 

Asher saluted the daughter of Aphrodite. "Back in a sec!" He took off toward Cabin Four. 

"How much longer are we gonna be out here, Chiron?" Clarisse complained. 

"Patience, Miss La Rue," Chiron said. "We're celebrating the beginning of a new season. It's always a milestone worth celebrating, to survive to the next season." 

Asher returned with the straw hat and handed it to Silena. 

Once the hat was secured onto the scarecrow's head and the breastplate strapped on, Beckendorf—the head of the Hephaestus cabin—and Lee from Apollo hoisted it up, jabbing the pole into the ground so the scarecrow stood upright. 

"It's not going to come alive like in Wizard of Oz, is it?" Naomi whispered to Ethan. 

He laughed. "Not likely—but you never know." 

Naomi fought a shudder. 

"Another summer season past," Chiron announced as the sun disappeared fully behind the treetops, painting the world in brilliant hues of gold and orange. "I'm proud of you all for surviving to see another autumn. Now, if you'll all follow me to the Big House, Argus and the harpies have prepared hot—" 

He stopped, turning his head toward Naomi. A strange purplish-pink light bathed his features. 

Naomi frowned at the shock on his face, aimed at her. She looked at Ethan next to her, but his face was full of confusion. 

Naomi looked around—everyone looked confused, bathed in that strange light. 

"What's going on?" she asked nervously, her skin immediately growing hot at all of the eyes trained on her. "Why is everyone looking at me?" 

Ethan wordlessly pointed to the space above Naomi's head. 

She looked up, her heart stuttering at the sight of an image floating above her head. It wasn't like the trident that had appeared over Percy's head months ago—it was some sort of fruit, cut in half. 

Underneath it, six tiny dots hovered in midair. 

"No way," a camper muttered. 

"I didn't even think she had kids," another gasped. 

"She doesn't. That's the problem." 

"Chiron?" Naomi asked, her voice small. "Who... whose symbol is that?" 

In the back of her mind, she already knew. After months of research with Annabeth, she knew exactly whose symbol it was. But she didn't want to believe it. It shouldn't have been possible.

With a grim expression, Chiron slowly bent his front legs, kneeling. The other campers followed suit, which just made the warmth that was already dominating Naomi's cheeks blaze even hotter. 

"Hail, Naomi Murphy," Chiron said, as if he were speaking at a funeral. "Daughter of Persephone—goddess of springtime and flowers; queen of the Underworld." 

❊

AHHH i'm so excited. some of y'all guessed it already, but YES, naomi's a daughter of persephone!!!

there's so much to her background/family that's going to be hinted at throughout the story, and it's a LOT... like, i'm almost nervous it's too much, but we'll see.

act two coming monday!!