Bridging the Divide

We find a stranger passed out on Annabeth's mom

Nico

Nico looked up, towards the giant Athena statue that glowered down at Camp Half-Blood. Something was different about it that day, and he made a split second decision to check it out. As he was walking across the camp, Will ran up to Nico, smiling brightly.

"Whatcha doing, Nico?" he asked, and Nico tried, and for the most part, succeeded, in hiding his smile.

"Something's off with the Athena statue. I'm gonna go check it out, make sure nobody's tampering with it."

Nico knew that the other passengers of the Argo II, (who were there to kick off the summer in style), had heard what he said and were following closely behind him.

When he got to the top of the hill, Nico's eyes widened in surprise. There was someone asleep against the feet of the Athena statue, the hood of his sweatshirt pulled over his face.

Annabeth looked at him, trying to figure out what he was doing there. "He's either a demigod, or a really perceptive mortal, to have come so far.," she said.

Frank tilted his head, and asked, "Is he okay? Maybe we should wake him up."

Will, no longer all smiles, replied "No, we should let him wake up on his own. He's probably over exhausted."

At those words, the boy's eyes flickered open, and a spark of surprise shot through Nico. His eyes were bright, vivid ice blue, full of sadness for some reason, yet ultimately mischievous.

Percy leaned forward and asked him "Are you okay?"

The boy nodded, then put a hand to his throat, tapping it a few times.

Jason asked, "Is something wrong with your voice?"

The boy nodded, and Annabeth exclaimed, "You're mute!"

He continued nodding, and Annabeth asked him triumphantly, "Do you know sign language?"

The boy blinked in surprise, then nodded. 'Yes,' he signed. 'I do. How do you know it?'

Annabeth replied, "My cousin has a friend who is deaf. Same sign language."

The boy nodded, then signed 'Anyways... hi. Sorry I fell asleep on your statue. My name is Keefe, and you are...?' There was a quick round of introductions, and then they headed down into the valley, towards camp.

When Piper asked about his parents, Keefe's face turned furious, and Piper wisely dropped it. 

Yes!!! Our Keefie boy has friends now :). This story arc is gonna be interesting, very very interesting.

Galaxy, out.