Jaimie Solace and the Unavoidable Affliction of Love

Chapter Thirteen

Jaimie was unique in the fact that unlike most demigods, she never really had that awkward experience of having to explain the mythological world to an unsuspecting mortal. Whether it be a parent (a surprisingly large amount didn't know that they had slept with a god or goddess, oddly enough), a clear-sighted friend, or a newly minted demigod, most campers would have that experience at least once in their life.

Jaimie had not. She had somehow made it twenty-six years of life without having to figure out how to have that particular conversation. Obviously, her good luck had come to an end.

She didn't know what she could have done to deserve this, she thought as she slowly lost her mind answering the ridiculous amount of questions the Avengers were throwing at her.

A lot of the questions from the more scientific members of the team were about the difference in physiology and genetic makeup of a demigod. Jaimie had never thought much about that, mostly because she didn't usually think about herself as a science experiment. Logically she knew that they only had half of the required human DNA, as confirmed by the HYDRA testing, but there was also no logical explanation as to how they functioned without the other half. That was the uphill battle she had to fight with both Tony and Bruce, getting them to understand that some of their questions would have no other answers besides from "godly magic".

But then, discussion of magic led to her being grilled for an in-depth explanation of not only her own powers, but the powers of other demigods. Jaimie tried to explain that every demigod's abilities manifested differently, and that sometimes the things they inherited from their godly parents were more akin to personality traits and appearance than any kind of magical power. She ended up going through most of the cabins at Camp, and mentioning only the most notable aspects. Wanda, Jaimie noticed, was particularly interested in the Hecate Cabin. But overall, Jaimie found a way to not mention her own specific powers yet.

Speaking of Camp, Jaimie didn't think it would be as exhausting as it was to explain both Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood to them, but then she realized one of the Camps basically has its own government and Senate and etc, and things got more complicated from there. The Avengers were nothing if not thorough with their questions, and they were shocked to hear that Jaimie didn't have much to do with the inner workings of either camp anymore.

She had been on Camp Half-Bloods council, when she was co-head of the Apollo cabin with Will, but she resigned that position when she left to attend New Rome University when she was eighteen.

Of course, that led to the particularly horrifying conversation (to the team) that demigod society was basically run by children, because the lifespan for a demigod had topped at around sixteen or seventeen not so long ago. Ever since the Giant War, things have gotten significantly better for them in terms of monsters and dangerous quests, but not perfect. Jaimie could see how saddened most of the team was to learn that demigods are forced to fight for their lives since adolescence, and had a stark moment of self-reflection in realizing how sad it was that the demigod lifestyle was so normalized to her.

She still wasn't done after this, though, because upon learning that a majority of her people have been actively fighting for their lives since they were tweens, the team then began to ask about the specifics of Jaimie's adventures. Apparently, Thor had been quite vague, basically saying she was a hero among heroes, had lived a life of adventurer, and also threw in the fact that her brother-in-law was a prince of the Underworld. Not sure why he thought to mention that, but maybe as royalty himself he felt it was important.

Thanks Thor, but also what the fuck?

The accumulation of completely random (and mostly inaccurate, from Jaimie's point of view) facts led to a whole other mess of clarifications and explanations, telling the team what her role was in both the wars, what those wars even were, and other quests and adventures since then. Thor took it upon himself to interject, constantly, telling Jaimie that she was under exaggerating. That caused Jaimie to argue back that she was never involved with either of the great prophecies, she was not a member of the Seven, and had played a largely supportive role.