ANNOUNCEMENT & IM

[chiron]

[ You'll find yourself looking at a grave centaur first thing this morning, just before the Romans start their training. ] Campers, I've an important announcement to make. Now, you know very well that we have protective borders around Camp Half-Blood. After last summer's incident, we've taken great care to ensure that we have several lines of defense with both force and Mist.

Followers of Lycaon - wolves - have been spotted just outside of camp. It is believed that they continue to align themselves with Gaea.

There have been no attacks, but I trust that all of you will keep your eyes and ears open for any signs of trouble. No campers will be leaving. [ Have a pointed look for some of you. ] However, we must keep our wits about us. Prepare accordingly. The Athena cabin has necessary information on the followers should you choose to educate yourselves on the matter. I hope you will.

[ The feed ends. ]





( mod note | Open to discussion. Plan your patrol groups, change up your training tactics. Welcome to the first plot of 2014! )

Comments

[arracht]

It'll be okay, Nico. I'll be okay.

[ Rubbing his cheek against his head in an idle nuzzle, a faint rumble builds in his chest when he feels his grip tighten. Something small, soothing, more of a vibration than a sound. ]

You won't. [ Derek's voice goes quiet, almost as if reassuring in two words that he's not going anywhere, that Nico doesn't have to talk about it if he doesn't want to. ]

[deathdiduspart]

[For a moment, he wants to let it drop. Nico hardens himself to that immediate thought. He's been thinking about it since December, and he's decided that his siblings deserve to know about the sister they could've had. He hasn't been fair to Hazel or Derek in keeping them in the dark about Bianca, though he hasn't yet gotten the strength of heart to talk to his sister about it.

Nico takes a deep breath and lets it out.]

I'm sorry. I haven't been fair to you by not talking about her. You...would've been her brother, too.

[He hasn't thought about it in a long time, so he steels himself against the inevitable pain, grief, and guilt.]

Bianca was my older sister. Hades visited our mother twice, which, honestly, says a lot about her as a person. Bianca died, not long after we got out of the Hotel and not very long after our mother was killed, at least not to us. She went out on a Quest and left me here, and she didn't come back.

[He can't tell the entire story. Not yet, especially since it deals with Percy and Annabeth.]

Before I met Hazel, I'd been visiting her in Elysium, but...she chose rebirth.

[Nico feels tears prick at the corners of his eyes, but he almost violently forces himself not to shed them. He did enough of that in the months after her death.]

[arracht]

[ Sometimes it's easy to forget just how old Nico actually is, how he's actually older than Derek by a decent sum. But it hardly matters, because he's still his brother-- still family, still pack-- and he's come to realize that there's very little that he wouldn't do for Nico.

If he could go back and keep him from feeling that pain, of losing someone he cared about so much, he would. A deep feeling of empathy settles in the pit of his chest and sinks into his gut, and he carefully pulls back a little ways to look at the Italian boy, even as he keeps contact with him. ]

You don't need to apologize, Nico. [ A little quirk pulls at the corner of his mouth, but it doesn't reach his eyes. Between the strain of Lycaon's wolves being sited, and just simply knowing the pain that Nico's been through, it can't quite make it.

He ducks his head down, angles it to meet his eyes, and brings his hands up to frame his brother's jaw on both sides, gently bunting their foreheads together. ] I understand.

[ At least Nico didn't have their sister's blood on his hands. ]

[deathdiduspart]

[It's hard for Nico himself to remember that he's only just 14, almost 15 by now.

Dark brown, almost black, eyes look in Derek's and see the truth in them. He can't help a small sniff.]

I guess...I've missed having an older sibling more than I thought.

[Nico tries to smile, but it comes out as more of a grimace.]

I'm sorry it had to come out right now. With...everything else happening.

[arracht]

[ Letting out a small, humorless huff at the grimace, Derek drops his hands down to his shoulders and gives him a small squeeze. He realizes that his touches are what he'd exchange with pack, losing all pretense of boundaries and more tactile than most people typically would be, but he needs to drive this home. He's not going anywhere, Nico won't lose another family member, they'll be okay. ]

I'm pretty lucky that I actually got the chance to be your older brother, so I can't say that I mind at all.

[ He shakes his head a little, though. ] Don't be sorry. Regardless of what's going on, I'm here to listen.

[deathdiduspart]

[Truthfully, Nico doesn't mind it if his siblings are tactile. He has the most problems with other people minus Jehan.

Still, as much as he wants to tell Derek everything, he holds himself back. This has been emotionally draining and he's done enough with sharing some personal history for the day. Nico nods, though.]

I'll keep that in mind. I'm not exactly in the habit.