Rising Phoenix - Sequel To Forgotten Power

Chapter 24

"Wow," was all Hazel had to say after Arelyn finished explaining pretty much everything, "So that's where you went? When you said you were 'figuring stuff out'?"

Arelyn laughed nervously as she glanced around Hades cabin, "Yeah. I was sort of hoping you forgot about that..."

"Why? Cause you lied to me? That's fine. Everyone lies."

"Well, yeah, but... You know what? Let's not talk about this right now."

Hazel shrugged, "All right. What you rather discuss?"

"Maybe how life's been here?"

"Well, we've gotten a lot of new campers recently. Lots of them are little kids, but we have some older ones too. Nobody has any idea where they came from."

"Wait, what? No clue at all?"

Hazel shook her head, "Any satyrs Chiron sent out to look for demigods brought them in at similar times. According to them they were all making no progress until around the same time when half bloods were suddenly everywhere. The half bloods themselves have no idea where they came from."

Arelyn thought for a while, "When you asked them where they had been, what did they say?"

"Well, I didn't ask them personally, but Annabeth did. She said they would just look at her strangely and say 'dark' before staring off into space for a while. So far Bren has been one of the only ones to just look Annabeth in the eyes and tell her that he didn't know."

Dark... Arelyn thought, letting the pieces click together in her mind before saying her idea out loud, "Do you mind if I visit Bren?" She asked.

"Um, sure. But I don't know if he'll tell you anything... Also, don't hurt him."

Arelyn looked at her hands resting in her lap, "Never."

The two of them stood and walked outside.

"If anyone sees you," Hazel began, "I'll tell them you're another camper. Hopefully some of them from before won't recognize you..."

Arelyn nodded but still pulled her hood over her head. It hid her face fairly well, and if she flipped it inside out you wouldn't see the Neverseen symbol on the shoulder. "If they do, let's hope they've forgiven me."

The walk to Hermes cabin wasn't very long, but it still felt like hours to Arelyn. All the campers we're running around happily, a few of them stopping for a moment to glance at Hazel and her  mysterious friends before continuing with whatever they were doing. None of them looked close enough to recognize the girl that had hurt them and held them hostage in their own safe haven. Well, maybe except that one girl Arelyn recognized from Aphrodite cabin. Back when the Neverseen took over, she'd been sent to some of the cabins to see if they were empty, and when she'd walked into the Aphrodite cabin she'd found a girl laying on her stomach on a bed, waiting for her nails to dry. Then the girl asked Arelyn if she could keep the shouting down since she was trying to listen to music. Needless to say, Arelyn had fun turning the girl in. Hopefully she remembered her.

As Hazel knocked on the door of the Hermes cabin, Arelyn couldn't help but worry. What if she was wrong and it was just a coincidence? Yes, because lots of demigods claiming to have come from the dark is a coincidence. Get a grip!

When the door opened, it was Bren, much to Arelyn's relief. She didn't want to talk with some random kid from Hermes cabin and ask them to talk to Bren. That would've seemed weird...

"Hey Bren!" Hazel exclaimed, "Can we talk with you?"

Bren nodded and glanced at Arelyn a moment before stepping outside and shutting the door. "Where are we going?" He asked as they walked away.