Chapter 3

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Happy Holidays!
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"Where will I be staying? I don't suppose my father has a cabin here." My attempt to lighten the mood proved futile as Chiron's face remained expressionless.

"The gods have spoken amongst themselves. Hades has agreed to take you in."

He was still weary of me. Although I could understand why. One would have wavering faith if the son of the most infamous deities came waltzing into your home. One would wonder if their loyalties lie, as I am sure Chiron is doing now.

Only time will show I suppose, and I have plenty, but I should at least try to quicken the process.

"I know that you might see me as untrustworthy," I started. " And you may be right."

Chiron's tail flicked nervously.

"Now, let me explain. My loyalties lie with my father first and foremost but he is very adamant about me being here and not because of some master plan but because he wants me to be happy.

"Life of a demigod was all I talked about. To anyone. All the monsters had horrible things to say about demigods of course. I never listened to them. One Titan though, he told me about the great Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, and Nico D'Angelo son of Hades. I looked up to them.

"Then I saw them there. Percy and Annabeth were blindly running through Night's Palace. I tried holding off the angry mob but they got past.

"From then on I followed from a distance. Delaying Polybotes from finding him.

"My father saw how passionate I was about demigods and their way of life so he sent me here.

"Listen, Chiron, my father doesn't have this master plan to destroy the world. He just wants me to have a somewhat normal demigod life.

"And if that's what he wants, I'll do my best to give it to him. I owe him that much."

I let out a breath as I finished. His face remained unnervingly stoic, although his eyes held questions.

"I will answer any questions you have," I said.

Silence reigned as a thoughtful look crossed his wrinkled face.

"As I said before, I know nothing of you," he spoke softly. "Let's start with a name."

I smiled slightly as I stuck out my hand and said, "Cleo."

Chiron's brow quirked as his hand met mine.

"Do you have a last name, Cleo?" he asked.

"I do," I replied. I didn't want to get into my family history quite yet.

"I see. Nico was quite distraught when he came looking for a medic. The only time I have ever seen him like that was when he learned of his sister's death."

I knew where this was going.

"You want to know what I did," I addressed the prominent, yet unasked question.

He suavely nodded his head.

I pursed my lips and slowly started pacing the floor.

"An ability I inherited from my father. I don't know exactly how it works but if I use the blade that killed a monster to draw blood from myself, I can reverse the effects the monster did to its latest victim. That's how I saved Percy."

Chiron crossed his arms as another thoughtful look came upon his face.

"What other abilities do you have?" He asked trying but failing, to seem uninterested. I smiled at his antics.

"I am immune to all of the monster's powers." I started. "I bear the mark of Achilles, although the Fates were cruel because of it. I can..."

"What do you mean by that?" Chiron interrupted.

I silently cursed myself. I shouldn't have said that. I sighed before continuing. 

"Because my father is who he is, bathing in the river affected me differently. I didn't gain steel skin while bathing in the River Styx. I gained immortality."

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