Veronica Sawyer was an iconic name. And so that was what she called herself.
She would've liked to be simple, with the basic life of demigods for a backstory-mortal parent didn't want her, she ended up a year-rounder. But the Fates didn't like Veron...
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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝟐: 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞
December 14, 2007
"UM, OKAY," WAS NOT THE REACTION VERONICA EXPECTED PERCY TO HAVE TO ARTEMIS. And the reaction she herself had wasn't what she expected, either.
"Cool," she said. "Now why are you bothering us?"
Well, fuck me gently with a chainsaw, she thought immediately afterwards. She's gonna kill me, isn't she?
Grover had much more respect than the son of Poseidon and Veronica. He tossed himself into the snow, groveling at Artemis' feet. "Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so... you're so... Wow!"
"Get up, goat boy!" Thalia snapped, kicking at the snow. "We have other things to worry about. Annabeth is gone!"
"Whoa," Bianca's voice called, shaking though she tried to stay calm. She held her hands out in front of her. "Hold up. Time out."
Everybody turned to her as she pointed her finger at them one by one. "Who... who the hell are you people?"
Artemis' stern expression softened slightly. "It might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who are you? Who are your parents?"
Bianca turned to Nico, who was still staring at Artemis like she controlled the moon and the stars... which she did. The older di Angelo grabbed her brother and pulled him behind her. Our parents are dead," she finally answered. "We're orphans. There's a bank trust that pays for our school, but..."
As it dawned on her that they didn't believe her, Bianca's voice grew quieter. Eventually her eyes narrowed and she "What? I'm telling the truth."
"You are a half-blood," Zoë Nightshade corrected. Her accent was... difficult to figure out, to say the least. She sounded like a Shakespearean actor and a little like an older Disney princess—Aurora, maybe—at the same time. "One of thy parents was mortal. The other was an Olympian."
"An Olympian... athlete?" Bianca hesitated to ask.
"No," Zoë said. "One of the gods."
Nico lit up, happy in a way Veronica had never really seen any kid before. "Cool!"
"No!" Bianca's voice shook as she audibly held back tears. "This is not cool!"
Nico danced around giddily, making Veronica smile softly. "Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage?" he asked. "Does he get extra movement points for—"
"Nico, shut up!" Bianca put her hands to her face. "This is not your stupid Mythomagic game, okay? There are no gods!"
"There are," Veronica spoke up before she could even process it. When a beat of silence passed without anyone speaking, she realized that everyone was looking at her now. She scrunched her nose up anxiously and looked down at the snow. Attention wasn't really her thing. It was nice at times, like having pretty people stupidly envy her, but when a goddess and her followers were there alongside everyone else, it was just kind of awkward. "I... I'm the child of a god. So are Percy and Thalia. And as it seems... so are you."
