Nico

I heard the screaming before I saw Festus. The bronze dragon came soaring in only a few feet over the Big House. Festus landed on the others side of the stream and gladly not on the volleyball court. As all fours landed on the ground, a very perturbed Leo got off the dragon.

"Why did you bring me here?! Calypso is going to kill me! Bring me back to the Waystation!" Leo demanded. Festus shuddered in metal hide and blew fire out his nose. Burning Leo's shirt clean off. "Are you kidding me?! This is one of my last good shirts!" He cursed in Spanish and kicked the dirt.

"Leo!" Percy hollered out to him. "What are you doing here? I thought you were helping Apollo with defeating the Triumvirate."

"I was," Valdez called back. "And it's a long story, but Festus got torn to pieces and I was fixing him up. I took him out for a flying test and he bolted here!"

Festus ignored the commands of his friend and hopped over the river. He landed with a great THUD and stomped over to Henora. The dragon was so excited and jumpy Leo couldn't get him to pay attention or listen to him.

Henora wasn't scared by Festus. It was quite the opposite really. She laughed and reached out for him. I was on my way to pull her away to keep her from getting burned when Henora patted his nose. Festus clicked and sputtered at her, happy to see her.

"Sorry," Henora apologized. "You must think I'm someone else."

Leo managed to get over to them and caught his breath with his hands on his knees. "You can understand him?"

She nodded and scratched Festus's neck. He rumbled and steamed all over.

Mr. D and Chiron watched Henora in aw, thought seemingly sad. "What did Festus say to her, Logan Vladimir?" I think you can figure out who asked Leo that.

Scowling, Leo answered, "He said 'I missed you so much. I thought you were gone'. He's going haywire. I need to give him another tune-up before he flies off again."

Leo climbed up the side of Festus. The dragon was far too distracted with Henora to notice Leo opening his control panel. Pushing a few buttons and disconnecting a wire, he shut Festus down.

Henora went from giddy to bland the second Festus froze. She gave Festus's nose one last pat, then stepped away. I wondered how Henora was so good with the dragon. Anyone else who touched him got burned to a crisp. The only reason Leo wasn't in a full body cast was due to his immunity to fire.

I glanced between Henora and Mr. D and Chiron. They kept looking at each other, as if having a silent conversation. Henora was unaware of their staring and judging. What bothered me most was that the people who recognized Henora were so old. Festus was built around World War II, and said he missed her. Chiron knew her name before anyone told him what it was. And Mr. D gave her a look I knew all too well.

One that said, "You should be dead".

Dionysus studied the patch of dead grass Henora left. "Her curse is called the Touch of Death. The Christians have something similar, what they call the Kiss of Death. There are few I know who would use such a curse on a child. All of them reside in Hades or Tartarus."

"Could it be the same god who wiped her memory?" Percy was still touchy with his experience with Amnesia. It showed more than he would have liked too.

"Her memory wasn't wiped, as you put it, Paul James. Her memories were stolen. There's no trace of anything in her mind before waking up in another country. Like a baby's mind just after birth."

"Dionysus, you have to admit she has a striking resemblance to her," Chiron prompted. "She could be related to her."

The god shook the idea away. "She died, decades ago. That satyr may have been delirious, but I checked his story personally. He was telling the truth. There's no way they could have survived."

"What girl?" I questioned. "Who died?"

Mr. D glared at me, something I was used to. "Nothing," he snapped. "Forget you ever heard that, Nicolas Dmitri."

................

Will came jogging back with a bag of Ambrosia and canteen of Nectar. He gave them to Henora.

"Drink and eat some, but not too much." He caught himself, and didn't add "Doctor's orders" to the end of the command.

Henora did as told, her eyes fixed on the food and drink like she hadn't eaten in days. Well, probably because she hadn't. She took a piece of the Ambrosia first, and dropped it in her mouth. It took a moment, but her eyes lit up and she had another bite.

"What does it taste like?" inquired Percy.

Henora finished chewing and answered, "Fresh bread." She took another bite and close the bag. Unscrewing the top of the canteen, she sipped Nectar, and grew a smile of satisfaction. "Fresh water."

While Henora grinned and took another gulp, the rest of us were taken aback by what she told them. The best things in the world she'd ever had were fresh bread and fresh water. Either those tasted better to her than other, greater food, or ... all the other things she'd had were worse.

Will looked nearly disgusted. "Gods, she's worse than you, Nico."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks."

Henora didn't finish the Ambrosia or Nectar, and if it wasn't hazardous to consume too much, I would have told her to eat more. Her cheeks filled in a little, as did the rest of her figure. Oddly, she also looked a bit older than she had moments ago. I would have pegged her for eleven or twelve before. Now, she was closer to Hazel's age.

Speaking of Hazel, I heard her voice, calling my name. I thought I was going crazy. Then I look behind me, and in the air were four Pegasus, one of the riders being my little sister.

"Hi, Nico!" she yelled. Hazel was the first in the arrangement of flying horses. Next came Frank, Piper, and Jason. I was glad to see my sister, but not a hundred feet in the air on a Pegasus.

With the clopping of sixteen hooves, they all landed, and Henora gasped. My friends got off their Pegasi and came over to out little group. Mr. D rubbed his forehead to ease a headache. He tended to get those in the presence of Romans, as they triggered his split personalities.

We all said our greetings, and the amount of times Percy and Jason said "bro" made him want to shadow-travel to Tokyo.

I hugged my little sister and high-fived Jason. I said hi to Frank, as he was my friend and sister's boyfriend. The whole area was a reunion, and seeing the reactions of the four visitors to Leo standing there was priceless.

Leo got off of Festus and waved to them all. "Hi guys!"

"LEO?!" they all screamed. Hazel, Frank, and Jason attacked him with a bear hug. Piper on the other hand, busted out in full French profanities and insults. She went on and on, then ended with, "AND IF YOU EVER DIE AGAIN I WILL DRAG YOUR SORRY BUTT TO HADES!!!"

"Nice to see you too, Piper," Leo wheezed. "Can you guys let me go for a second? You're kind of crushing me."

They only let him go a little, giving him some room to breath. Everyone was laughing and grinning. Other campers were gathering and watched them squeeze the life out of Leo.

I smiled with them all, happy my friends were finally reunited. There were so many more kids here now than back in Winter. Sure, it was more crowded, but it was nice to have lost of people around in case of an emergency.

When I didn't see Henora anywhere, I moved past my friends and the other campers. If I was right, Henora was till weary of crowds and was avoiding the cluster of campers.

I caught her, she was making a beeline for the cabins. I knew how hard it was to be in crowds, and resisting the desire to run from them. Since the old days when the most I could do was four people, I'd gotten better.

Chiron saw Henora leaving as well and we both decided to go after her. Henora shuffled on with her hands in her pockets, and we were close behind. She never went into any of the cabins. She stopped in front of Hermes Cabin, not moving to knock on or open the door.

Seeing her in front of Hermes Cabin, Chiron's suspicions heightened. He was enclosed in a void of deja vu, and Nico wondered if Chiron knew Henora from another life.

"Do you think she's a reincarnation? Of the girl you and Mr. D were talking about?"

Chiron gave me a questioning look, though he didn't deny it. "Don't mention that to the others. They wouldn't understand."

The way Chiron looked at Henora reminded me of the way one would look at the grave of a loved one. With memories overwhelming them and regret over their death, unable to be restrained. Chiron didn't talk about the girl, but I knew he'd been close to her. And Mr. D as well, though I couldn't imagine the god who hated heroes liking a demigod. Besides Percy – in his own way. He must have cared for the girl who Henora reminded him of. After all, he took away her curse. I was planning to beg or barter for him to help her. Instead, he did it all on his own. Something I never pegged Mr. D to do without prompting.

We walked up behind Henora, who didn't move when she noticed us. I had a few inches on her, even after she had Nectar and Ambrosia. But those godly foods gave her at least an inch or two.

"This is the house for children of Hermes," Henora sighed. "Demigods who haven't been claimed by their godly parent also live here, right? Because he's the god of travelers."

"They used to," Chiron explained. "But after a war, the gods promised to claim all of their children, so now only descendants of Hermes live here."

"How did you know Hermes is the god of travelers?" The more I learned about Henora, the more bewildered I got. She was supposed to have Amnesia, so how could she remember all of this? She'd never even been to camp before.

Henora pulled her backpack off and popped it on the ground. She unzipped the first compartment and pulled out a book. One that was older than Chiron. "This book. It's all about the Greek myths and gods. And ... I'm guessing that they're real. Because four Pegasi just came out of the sky."

I had to admit I was impressed. I mean, when I found out that the gods were real, I sort of freaked out and started asking if they were anything like the gods from my favorite game, Mythomagic. Henora was much more calm and collected.

"Does this mean all the Greek myths are real?" she questioned. We nodded. "Even Oedipus?" Chiron cringed, but nodded all the same. "Eww."

I chuckled, I couldn't help it. "Not many people see it that way."

Henora joined in, smiling and giggling a bit. Chiron, on the other hand, was on the edge of losing all emotion. "May I see that book?"

She handed it to him and turned back to the cabin. "Can I go inside?"

"Of course," Chiron said. I didn't think he heard her correctly, but it was too late not. She knocked on the door and asked to be let in.

Of course, Connor and Travis Stoll opened it. They were obviously hiding something. Up to their old pranks, as usual. "Who's the kid?" Connor questioned.

"This is He-."

"Actually," Henry interrupted. "Can you all me Henry? It's shorter than Henora, and easier to remember." She moved her gaze to Travis. She looked him up and down, then frowned. "Please don't throw your glitter at me."

The brothers groaned. "How did you see it?"

"You weren't hiding it well enough!" Connor snarled.

Travis groaned and muttered in ancient Greek. He revealed a cup of glitter that he was hiding behind his back and scowl at it. "This was actually meant for Nico, but thanks for ruining the prank." He walked out of the doorway and placed the cup on a table in the room.

Despite the Stolls almost dowsing me in glitter, Henry still wanted to go in the cabin. The brothers let her through, and she walked inside. She focused on the ceiling mostly.

"This place is a prank arsenal. Ice water buckets, water balloons, and ... is that a fire ant farm?"

As Henry counted off all the other pranks, Connor whispered to his brother, "She's a walking prank detector." Travis nodded and pushed something behind his back.

I turned to Chiron, thinking he'd realize the mistake of letting Henry into Hermes' Cabin with the Stolls. He was engrossed in Henry's book, and probably blocked them all out while reading it. I sighed and looked back to Henry ... who ... was gone?