Behind the Shadows

It was strange seeing everyone huddled around their cabin tables in complete silence. Usually everyone would be chattering and making so much noise that by the end Sapphire's ears would be ringing. This silence was making her ears ring but it was different. Chirons chair remains empty and Dionysus's face is now glum now that he has lost his drinking partner. Well, Apollo did the drinking since Dionysus can't drink any big boy drinks. A bottle of wine still remains on the table with him as though he thinks that maybe the next glass full will be what he wants it to be. Clarisse is at her table acting like her normal self. She crunches her food like a wild animal and punches Cayden on the arm while he cracks inappropriate jokes. Sapphire keeps her guard up anyway. Clarisse could have some evil plan up her sleeve and Sapphire could only hope there was an escape route when the time comes.
"Sapphire" Grover's voice croaks from behind her. Sapphire drops her fork on the her plate and turns round. Grover looks pale, frighteningly pale.
"Grover" She replies in a quiet voice. Even if the camp was acting like brainless sheep it was always best to keep conversations on the low. Grover clumps his hooves on the floor as he sits down next to Sapphire. His hands clasped tightly together on the table. Sapphires mood completely drops when she sees his panicked expression. "You okay there buddy?"
Grover takes a deep breath to calm himself, like he is on the verge of having a full blown panic attack.Grover tilts his head closer to Sapphire like he is away to tell her a secret. "I found something" a whisper comes out and is barely audible.
"What? and where did you find it?" Sapphire rushes and shuffles closer. Grover takes another deep breath."It was documents and I found them half burned in the fireplace in the big house" With Grover's odd behavior it was clear that these documents were important. Sapphire opens her mouth to reply but she finds herself lifted off her seat. With a harsh force she is thrown over the table and tumbles to the floor. Sapphire shoves away the shock and flies to her feet. Clarisse stands on the other side of the table with a smirk dripping poison on her face. Grover lowers his head like he thinks if he does that he will go unnoticed. It works and Clarisse jumps up on to the tables and stomps over it with ease until she jumps on the floor next to Sapphire. Sapphire brushes off invisible dirt off her shirt, and smiles sweetly in to her enemies eyes.
"Oh look! it's our first fight" Sapphire sighs dreamily, placing her hands over her own heart. She silently hopes Jake is watching and is giving her lots of brownie points for all this effort. Clarisse cracks her jaw in pure rage. Sapphire puts more force in to her smile, but Clarisse is having none of it and her fist crashes in to Sapphire face. Sapphire stumbles back and holds her face which is burning from the pain. "You hit me!" Sapphire shouts in shock. Clarisse usually took jokes well and would only retaliate through verbal abuse. This was different, and it was clear that Sapphire had gone too far. Clarisse steps forward and grabs Sapphire shirt collar then lifts her to her tiptoes.
"You think you're so big and mighty now don't you?" Clarisse snarls in Sapphire's face. Sapphire hides any signs of panic and covers it up with her smile. Clarisse looks like she is ready to snap Sapphires neck.
"I've always thought that" Sapphire chirps and shoves Clarisse away with all the force she can muster. Clarisse stumbles back but manages to stop quickly and charges forward. Sapphire takes a small step to the side, then sticks out her foot and just as she expected Clarisse flies past her and crashes to the floor. A few campers crack up laughing, but most of them remain eating as though nothing is happening. It was then that Sapphire notices that Jake is nowhere to be seen and neither is Cayden. Cayden had been sitting at his table only a few minutes ago and she had seen Jake come in a while ago. Clarisse is making weird noises and it sound like a cat when it's in distress. Sapphire sighs feeling slightly annoyed with having to deal with Clarisse's drama. It was always a tough decision on whether Sapphire should be the good or bad person in situations. It scared her sometimes to think that if she didn't have the camp or the people who loved her alway there for her, then she would be helping Luke build his army without a second thought. But she did have a place to call home and people who loved her and that meant she had something to fight for.
Sapphire walks over to Clarisse who is still on the floor. She offers her a hand but it gets swatted away like an annoying fly. Sighing in defeat she makes her exit. It was odd that both Jake and Cayden were out of sight and it causes Sapphire to worry. Jake was not the fighting type but he certainly was the one to rile people up for the hell of it. If Jake did not like Cayden then that means Cayden was on his never ending list of people to annoy. Sapphire was also on that list but Jake just had her on it for amusement.
The evening sun makes the ground below Sapphire look pale orange. It was hard to think of a specific place where Jake would most likely be. All she could do was follow the path all the way around camp and hope she stumbles upon him.
It dark by the time Sapphire makes it around camp. Jake was nowhere to be seen, making Sapphire feel more and more uneasy. She had seen Cayden by the fountain which was a relief because it meant he was nowhere near Jake. Sapphire stands in front of the big house and shuffles about on her feet. Grover had found his clues in there and it made her wonder if there was more to find. The big house's door was alway open so Sapphire makes her way in. Its dark inside and slightly chilly since Chiron has not been around to keep the fire burning. Sapphire does not bother turning on the light in fear it would attract unwanted attention. Her eyes slowly adjust and everything looks neat and normal. The arm chairs still in front of the fireplace with a coffee table between them holding a deck of cards. Chirons desk on the other side of the room is its normal jumbled organised mess. It annoys Sapphire that whoever was behind Chirons disappearance didn't have the decency to leave behind mess and lots of fingerprints. A pile of drachma sits on the desk. Sapphire silently walks towards the desk and takes one of the drachma. She then Grabs a bottle of water and pours some of it to a glass cup. She then rummages through the desk drawers looking for torch and tape. Unfortunately she fails to find clues, but does find the object she needs. Sapphire grabs the tape and rips off a bit with her teeth. Her face still hurts and it complains as Sapphire opens her mouth. She sticks the tape on to the middle of the torches lence. With all that sorted all she needs is a sheet of paper. Her eyes land on a stack neatly placed on the table. Sapphire grins and launches for it. Most of it tumbles to the floor and leaves a mess. Mess was good though. Sapphire grabs a sheet and places it on the floor below the cup of water. She then takes a glance around the room and through the windows. She is alone and is away from prying eyes and ears. Clicking the torch on she then shines it through the cup. A small rainbow appears on the paper on the floor. Sapphire flicks the drachma on the rainbow."Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering." Sapphire whispers and waits. Nothing happens for a moments but then a image appears in front of her. It's a living room she sees Percy sitting on the sofa munching of blue cake. He fails to notice Sapphire.
"Did your mummy make that?" Sapphire chirps. Percy freezes and begins choking on his cake. He then begins looking around the room like a startled animal. Sapphire cracks up laughing the cringes from the pain. Percy's eyes land on the iris message. He rushes to his feet and walks forward. He is now grinning ear to ear.
"Oh dearest sister, how I have missed you" He jokes back. "What brings you here to my humble abode?"
"Who are you talking to, Percy?" A woman voice calls. Percy looks to his right and his eye go wide and he looks to the iris message and then back to his right. "What's that?"
Footsteps come closer and Sapphire is about to swish the message away, but she can't because she needs to talk to Percy right now. A woman steps in to view. She has dark hair and a kind smile. Her eye land on Sapphire. Those eyes. Those eyes are Sapphires eyes. Sapphire forgets how to breath in that moment. Nothing could ever prepare her for meeting her birth mother. Not now. Not ever. This woman had chosen to get rid of her daughter. This woman was able to pick which on of her twins to get rid of. Her eyes are glued on to Sapphire's.
"Eh. this is- em" Percy stutters, unable to explain. Sapphire remains silent and still."I know exactly who this is." The woman's voice wavers "Sapphire. My daughter"
Sapphire heart beats in rhythm with the pounding in her head. The big house's door bursts open but Sapphire can't tear her eyes away to see who it is. A lone tear falls down her cheek. It could've been from sadness or anger but Sapphire was not sure. Breath. Her mind screams for her attention. Sapphire takes a deep breath but it is cut short as a pair of hands grab her shoulders and throw her across the room. Someone is screaming and another is yelling.
"Sapphire!" Her mother yells."Whats going on?!" Percy shouts. Sapphire groans from the impact of her head crashing against the wall.
"I should've just stayed in bed today" Sapphire grumbles to herself. A dark figure stands near her. The figure swishes the iris message away and walks towards her.
"You can't keep your nose out of where it is not wanted, can you?" The voice is familiar. it Caydens.
"What are you talking about?" Sapphire grumbles, as she rubs the sore spot on the back of her neck. Cayden grabs her and hauls her up to her feet. He lowers his head to her ear.
"Chiron is gonna get what's coming to him and you're not gonna stop it even if you try" Cayden growls into her ear. "He was only getting in Luke's way. Without him, Luke will be able to put a stop to percy and the prophecy"
Sapphire frowns and gasps from a the sudden information. Cayden is part of Luke's army. Luke had been working right under their noses. Sapphire clenches her teeth and uses all her force to knee Cayden right where it hurts most. He fall like rock to the floor. Sapphire stands above him.
"Pass that on to Luke would you" Sapphire spits and stomps out of the big house and slams the door behind her. She hated herself for being so oblivious.

Notes