Calliope smiled gently at me. “I know that heroes don’t usually use cell phones because they’re so easy to track but you’ll be fine here. You can use my phone. I’ll leave you alone for a while to talk with your mother.”
Calliope handed me a sleek iPhone 5 before she walked out. Mom had never let me have a cell so this little thing was a little out of my league when I was used to the old school house phones with buttons and no screens. After a few seconds of fiddling I was able to get it to the right app. Mom had an old flip phone that she always kept for whenever I got into trouble. I knew that number by heart and my fingers flew over the screen as I dialed.
It rang five times and I was worried that I’d be sent to voicemail. My mom answered just as I was about to hang up. “Hello?”
I hadn’t realized how much I missed my mother until I heard her voice come through. “Mama?” I replied with relief coloring my tone.
“Naida? Oh, baby. I’ve missed you. How are things at Camp?”
I didn’t want to worry my mom but she and I didn’t keep secrets- well, we usually didn’t keep secrets. “I’m not at Camp right now. I was given a quest.”
She was silent for a long minute. “Oh,” she finally said. “Naida, I want you to be careful. I love you, baby, and I don’t want anything bad to happen. Being a demigod is dangerous, especially when you’re on a mission and things are attacking you.”
“I’ll be careful.”
She huffed from the other end. “Dammit. This is why I didn’t want you to go, why I kept things a secret. Why can’t the gods handle their own problems? If anything happens to you, I’m going to kill your dad. I warned him when he came to Italy. I said that if even a single hair on your beautiful head was injured I’d hunt him down and make him pay. I don’t care if he’s this all-powerful being. I’ll find some way to make him suffer even if that means sending him straight to hell.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. A few tears slipped from my eyes but I wasn’t sure if it was from sadness and how much I missed her or just the joy of hearing her ranting. “I know you will, Mama.”
After a second she let out a big gust of air. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. But you know how out of control my temper gets.”
I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the wall. “I know. I’m just like you. Mom, I know who my dad is. He claimed me at Camp Half-Blood and tried to come talk to me but I blew him off.”
“Naida.” I didn’t like the warning tone in her voice. Of course now was one of the few times she acted motherly instead of like my best friend. “I know that you never wanted to get to know him or anything but he is still your father. He’s in your life now and I don’t think he’ll go away that easily. At least give him a chance?”
I sighed and I suddenly felt exhausted. “I’m trying,” I admitted. “Percy’s been trying to convince me to at least hear Poseidon out. Which reminds me, Percy’s one of his kids, too.”
“Sally told me that. It was a little awkward staying here with her but we’ve both gotten over it.”
“That’s good because I think I like having a big brother.”
She laughed. “Well you sound tired, baby. Get some sleep and I’ll talk to you later.”
I gulped. I hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it but in the back of my mind I knew I’d made this call because I doubted I’d have a later. I so desperately wanted to keep my promise to Nico but I didn’t know how likely that was. I needed to hear my mom’s voice one last time, just in case. “I love you, Mom,” I mumbled before I clicked the phone off.
I let out a shaky breath and put the phone on the table for Calliope to find. Mom was right, I needed a nap. I walked back to the room we were all sharing. It looked like Annabeth had worn herself out coming up with all of her plans. She was asleep on one of the beds where Percy was sitting and she was using his lap as a pillow while he polished his sword, Anaklusmos- Riptide. Tyson and Grover took up two of the other beds both sleeping.
Nico looked up when I walked in and cocked his head to the side. I could tell he wanted to say something to but his pride from earlier kept him from doing so and I was in no mood to argue with him. I flopped onto one of the empty beds and took out my book again. I was slowly drifting off when another weight was added to the mattress. “You okay?”
“So you’re talking to me again?” I know that it was rude to snap at Nico but my temper tantrums came from my mom and she was crazy enough to look for a way to send my dad to Tartarus if anything happened to me.
“You can’t blame me for being mad at you,” he defended. No, I couldn’t. I’d probably been just as pissed if the situation was reversed.
“I know.”
“So what’s wrong? You looked like you’d been crying when you walked in.”
I shook my head slowly. I hadn’t even noticed the tears and puffiness in my eyes from talking to my mom. “It’s nothing. I’m going to go to sleep. We have a few hours before we get to Seattle and I think we’re all going to need out rest. ‘Night, Nico.”
I tucked the Harry Potter book away in my backpack and flipped over so that no one could see my face. I knew that I shouldn’t be upset but I couldn’t help myself. I was stressed and just wanted to sleep.

Notes

so i meant to post this chapter earlier today and i sort of flaked and for that i'm sorry. but here it is and i'd like to thank the usual suspects for commenting!! you guys rock!
tmcar1 and Evil espresso drinks and Thalia grace