We Discovered a Truth Right in Front of Our Eyes

  Percy and Harry walked alongside Annabeth through the camp, heading straight toward the dining pavilion. As they passed, they once again noticed the bonfire at the center of all the cabins, which, by the way, was still burning even though it was broad daylight. As if those flames were never meant to go out.

  There, a girl of around nine years old seemed to be tending to it. She stirred a few embers with a stick, calmly, as if she did not care about the sun beating down on her head or the constant heat of the fire.

  Harry and Percy glanced at her for a moment, since she was the only one not moving toward the pavilion like the other kids. And the girl seemed to feel their gaze, because she turned and looked at them, offering a surprisingly warm smile before returning to her task, as if that duty mattered more than anything else.

  Then they walked along the small river that connected to the sea, where Percy noticed two pretty young women in the deeper part of the water, sitting there in jeans and fashionable clothes. Their hair moved softly beneath the surface, as if it floated with a life of its own, and they were surrounded by fish swimming around them without the slightest fear.

  They gave him charming smiles as they waved.

  Percy, out of reflex, gave a small wave back.

  “I would not recommend having a naiad as a girlfriend. They are truly terrible at it,” Annabeth said quickly.

  Percy looked at her strangely for a moment, but ignored the comment. He had only wanted to be polite and a little chivalrous in returning the greeting; he was not thinking about anything else.

  “By the way,” Percy began. “I mean, I already understand the whole demigod thing and all that. Well, technically we are connected to the magical world, so it is not that much of a surprise, honestly.”

  “It is not the same,” Annabeth said, interrupting at once. “Well… more or less,” she added afterward.

  That caught Harry’s attention.

  “Why more or less?” he asked.

  “Mmm…” Annabeth seemed to think for a moment. “Well, according to some stories and Chiron, the magical world may have originated from the first apprentices of the goddess of magic. She was the only one who could teach mortals how to control the Mist. Well… and a few others.”

  Percy frowned.

  “Apprentices? Like normal students? Or a magic school?”

  “Something like that,” Annabeth replied. “But it is said that, a long time ago, those apprentices began researching on their own. Just like humans have science, which came from alchemy in the past.”

  “Science and alchemy?” Percy asked.

  “She means non magical alchemy from the past; experimentation with materials and the search for transformation. Hermione told us about it, remember? She thought alchemy split into the magical side and the non magical side, creating science,” Harry said calmly.

  Annabeth looked at him for a moment while nodding.

  “So the magical world you know actually has its beginning in our world. But now it is completely separated, just like magic and science. That is why it is not the same,” she finished explaining. “It is not that they betrayed her. They just… found another path. But because of that, they drifted away.”

  “Mmm,” Percy said as he nodded in understanding. “But it is not that far apart anyway, right? After all, there is Alabaster and the others, who are part of the magical world. And now us,” Percy added.

  Annabeth opened her mouth before closing it.

  “Well… they… aside from Lily and Alabaster, who are children of Hecate, the other two are here for something specific,” she said.

  “That is what they told us, but what exactly?” Harry asked, frowning.

  Annabeth looked at him, but did not seem eager to answer.

  “Since they brought you into their group, it is safe to assume you are a son of Hecate, or at least her descendant. She is one of the few goddesses whose descendants know from the moment they arrive where they belong,” Annabeth said, with a faint hint of jealousy that barely showed.

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  Harry nodded slightly.

  “That is… good,” she said, nodding again. Then she glanced at Percy, but did not have much to say to him, since Percy did not know who his father was, and reminding him might only annoy him. Like many campers who lived somewhat bitter because of that.

  “What is good about it?” Percy asked, interested.

  “Actually, something strange has been happening at camp for a while now. Something only Chiron and the satyrs know. And your names were mentioned a couple of times while I was eavesdropping on them. I felt that if you are a descendant of Hecate, a goddess my mother has no issue with, since she is not Ares or… well… Poseidon, I thought we could work together. You should know something,” she said.

  “And your mother is…?” Harry asked.

  “Athena, the goddess of wisdom,” she said with quiet pride. “I need to get a quest. I am not a child anymore. If I could just understand the problem…”

  Seeing her proud look and the way she muttered to herself, for some reason Percy felt the urge to say something just to annoy her.

  But before he could, something white suddenly flew over his head. As it passed, it left a sharp peck right on his forehead, before flying toward Harry and landing on his shoulder.

  “Oh… hello, Hedwig. I thought you had arrived before us. I got worried when I did not see you,” Harry said calmly to his loyal owl, while Percy held his forehead in pain from the peck the bird had left behind.

  “Are you not going to say anything about her sneak attack?” Percy shouted angrily, pointing at the white owl, who looked at him with faint disdain and pride.

  “Stop being such a baby,” Harry said with only partial calm, as he stroked his friend’s feathers.

  Meanwhile, Annabeth stared at Hedwig for a moment, her brow slightly furrowed, before shaking her head.

  “Well. You should go on ahead; I will catch up later,” she told them, stopping right in front of the large dining pavilion, where all the other campers were already seated.

  Harry nodded to Annabeth and carried Hedwig with him, while Percy kept grumbling and throwing looks at the owl, who turned her head completely around to stare at him. That startled him slightly.

  “I hate it when you do that,” he muttered as he followed his brother.

  Harry and Percy noticed that more and more people were gathering in the pavilion. Naiads emerged from the water, satyrs came out from between the cabins after finishing their work, and other girls literally stepped out of the forest. They saw a girl of about ten walk straight out of a tree before skipping lightly toward the pavilion.

  That made roughly a hundred campers, a dozen satyrs, and a mixed dozen of dryads and naiads.

  It seemed each cabin had its own table, where its members gathered; except for three that were completely empty, and table eleven, which was packed, everyone squeezed together.

  That was where Harry and Percy joined, near the edge.

  As expected, Harry more or less knew where he belonged, yet there was neither a table nor a cabin for Hecate. He could even spot Jean, Daniel, Lily, and the bitter Alabaster, who looked like he genuinely despised being surrounded by so many people.

  “For the gods,” Chiron toasted.

  At that, the naiads and nymphs began walking through the pavilion, handing out empty goblets and plates of food. Cherries, grapes, apples, cheese, fresh bread, and plenty of barbecue.

  Percy nodded as he served himself some meat, while Harry gave a bit to Hedwig, who was still perched on his shoulder. No one seemed to mind. Or rather, several owls perched in the trees would occasionally swoop down, and the nymphs would casually hand them something to eat as if it were nothing unusual.

  Percy reached for his goblet, but it remained empty, so he turned to look for pitchers of juice somewhere nearby.

  Luke leaned slightly toward him and said, “Ask for whatever you want and it will pour it for you. No alcohol, obviously.”

  “Mmm. Butterbeer,” Percy said.

  He watched as the goblet began filling quickly, which made him nod with interest. Then he changed his words.

  “Blue butterbeer.”

  Immediately, the golden, frothy liquid shifted into a bright blue tone. He took a sip and nodded as if it were exactly right.

  While Harry handed Hedwig a piece of smoked ham, which she took before flying off to join the other owls, he noticed that many campers were picking up their plates and walking toward the bonfire at the center.

  “Come on. We have to burn the offerings for the gods,” Luke said, nodding at them and urging them to stand with him.

  From closer up, Harry and Percy could see that the campers were tossing the best cuts of their plates, the finest fruits, and the best drinks into the fire while murmuring a brief prayer.

  That made both Harry and Percy glance at each other at the same time, fully remembering the way Aunt Mor had taught them to give thanks to the goddess of magic. And how they would always receive something in return.

  Though in this case, it seemed the campers received nothing. They simply offered their prayers and returned to their seats.

  When it was Luke’s turn, he took a cluster of black grapes and tossed it in casually before saying, “Hermes.”

  And with that, he simply went back to his place.

  Leaving Harry and Percy’s turn.

  “It was right in front of us the whole time, wasn’t it?” Percy said while staring at his plate.

  Harry could not help letting out a dry smile. It was very much like Aunt Mor not to tell them something directly, yet leave it sitting right in front of their faces.

  The two of them threw their entire plates into the flames, almost by reflex.

  They had done it hundreds of times before.

  Only now they knew who they were speaking to.

  “Please accept this offering, goddess of magic. Hecate,” they said in unison.

  Suddenly, as if the fire were pleased to receive all the food from their plates, the flames burned in a greenish hue that caught the attention of those who had already returned to their seats. And they watched as, out of nowhere, two large bags of cookies, looking almost handmade, flew out of the flames and into Harry and Percy’s arms. They were so big that both of them had to wrap both arms around them just to hold them.

  Completely shocked and stunned, since it was the first time they had ever seen food come out of the fire instead of only going in.

  The entire pavilion fell into absolute silence. No one dared to whisper a name. The only one who seemed to keep moving was Dionysus, who was sipping from a Diet Coke can that did not smell anything like Diet Coke, with obvious delight. Incidentally, it had flown straight into his hand from the green flames while everyone else had been far too busy staring at the enormous bags of cookies.