Charlotte Smith

I Find Out The Truth

I saw Grace and she grinned when she saw me. "Hi Charlotte." she calmly greeted and I was surprised she didn't scream.

Before I could ask her why she was in my dreams, she stated "I know you're wondering why I am in your dreams and I know you have a lot of questions, though I came here to answer one that I know you have had since the moment you met me. What am I? I am here to answer that question. I am the daughter of the 3 Fates."

My mouth fell open and my eyes widened.

This crazy quirky girl was the daughter of the most powerful women in Greek mythology?! How?!

"How, you may ask? Well, it's an interesting story. Clotho, the Fate of Birth, was sat beside her sister and saw a special girl was to be born. She insisted that Lachesis, the Fate of Life, tell her what made the girl special and Lachesis told her that she did not see the girl. Clotho ignored the girl and continued to spin the different threads of many lives from her distaff onto her spindle. Then, something none of the Fates saw happened. Clotho went into a trance and began to play with the strings. Atropos, the Fate of Death, tried to wake up her sister and Lachesis began to panic as she magically lengthened many threads so the people they represented continued to live. Atropos noticed Lachesis' struggle, leaving Clotho and cutting threads as she was. Clotho, still in her trance, pulled out the golden threads of her and her sisters that were unable to be cut. Lachesis and Atropos watched her with worry and she split all their threads in half. The sisters gasped as they felt half of their souls leave them. Clotho intertwined the three half threads and they magically became one. She began to spin the thread onto her spindle and woke from her trance. At the same time, Lachesis went into a trance and began to knit the thread that Clotho had made from there's. Lachesis woke up and saw that she was knitting. She couldn't stop and Clotho began to pick out threads again, asking what happened to her. Atropos began to explain, though stopped once once they heard a cough. They all looked up and saw a teenage girl in front of them. Zeus appeared and questioned who this girl was since she was in Zeus' castle, where the Fates reside. The girl spoke that all she knew was that she was the daughter of the Fates. Zeus was shocked along with the Fates. They all wanted her to prove herself and Clotho got up to allow the girl to sit and see if she would pick out the correct threads. Each of the Fates had her take their places and do their jobs, the girl doing each job perfectly. Zeus allowed her to stay and help the Fates with their work. He declared her the minor Goddess of the Fates and her job was to help her mothers with their work. She was obedient and sometimes assists heroes in their journeys. Throughout the many many years, the girl became crazy and optimistic, as she has seen many people that didn't live life to the fullest. She was immortal though always lived as though she would die the next day. Zeus created a single whistle that he used to summon the girl and only a true hero could use it and she would assist whoever she sees fit. I am that girl." she spoke.

I nodded and apologized "I am so sorry for disrespecting you."

She giggled and assured "It happens more than you would think. You are forgiven. Do not tell the others, for it was only you that was fated to know who I am."

She faded away and disappeared.

I felt my arm being shook softly and my eyes fluttered open. I saw a tired Nico above me and he mumbled "We have to get off in 20 minutes." I groaned and took my pillow, pushing it onto my face. "5 more minutes!" I muffled and I heard Nico chuckle. Suddenly, the blanket was yanked off me and I screamed at the sudden cold air. I jumped up and saw Nico with my blanket in his hand. "Give the blanket and nobody gets hurt." I joked, though made myself sound serious. Nico laughed and shook his head. I shrugged my shoulders and crawled into his warm bed. I made sure to grip tightly onto the blankets and felt him attempt to pull them off. I laughed and whispered "Mine." I closed my eyes and Nico's scent calmed me. I heard Nico leave the room and I grinned at my victory. My smile vanished as I listened to the door quickly open and a heavy weight jumped onto me. "I shouldn't be ordered to wake you up." Ivy sighed, staying on me. I groaned and mumbled "Fine." I heard her laugh and get off me. I waited a second before slowly getting up. "Now you have 10 minutes." Nico reminded and my eyes widened. I grabbed my clothes and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door closed. I heard Nico laugh and I quickly pulled off my clothes. I changed my undergarments and yanked on my black skinny jeans. As I tugged my grey shirt on which said 'I already want to take a nap tomorrow', Nico yelled "5 minutes!". I pulled my hair into a ponytail and hurried out of the bathroom. Nico was by the opened door, waiting for me to hurry. I felt the train begin to stop and I pulled my usual converse on. I ran out of the room with Nico as the train stopped and I saw Annabeth by the exit waving us towards her. We sprinted towards her and bolted out of the train with her to join the group. The second we got off, the door was closed and the train began to leave. "What took you so long?" Percy asked and Nico chuckled, glancing at me. I glared at him playfully which just made him laugh again. "Nothing, we're here now." I stated and Percy nodded with a smile before we all joined the group. Annabeth was staring at a map that Jason found at the station and everyone was huddled around it. I stayed back with Nico while Percy joined the others. From my angle, it was odd looking at a group of 8 teens all together. I listened up as Annabeth announced "So we need to find a way of transportation to Florida, does anybody have any ideas?" As people threw around ideas, I asked Nico "Couldn't we just go on a bus?" He shook his head and replied "Monsters can get on and you're kind of trapped." I sighed, though brightened up and suggested "What if I use the Athena charm! I can use it for strategizing and help!" Nico immediatley argued "Charlotte, no. The tattoo will hurt you and I'm not sure if that's worth it." I quickly insisted "I want to help Nico and this is the way I can do it. I thought you understood that..." He assured "I do, I do, I'm just worried about you, that's all. It's your choice, I'm just stating my opinion." I nodded and gave in "Fine, I'll think of ideas with pure Charlotte brain power." Nico chuckled and I noticed Grace was standing back as the others spoke. I went over to her and she smiled when she saw me. "Any ideas, oh Ms. Powerful goddess?" I asked and she laughed. "I already know the answer, just waiting for it to be said. Won't be much longer." She replied and I scoffed. "Is it just me or did you become less crazy?" I questioned and she spoke "After I reveal myself to someone, I know that they will treat me differently than the mysterious fun girl and see me as a goddess that will get you killed if you cross me. I know you see me differently and it's fine because it was... well fate. Also, I'm me and I can still be quirky and strange. No, no one else here will ever know what I am. I guess I'm just your secret, all-seeing goddess at hand." I laughed and she added "Let's join them, they just decided on what we're going to do." We went over to the group and Percy stated "Guys, we're gonna do something kind of risky... We're going to steal a car." Piper called "I don't like this in anyway and refuse to be a part of it!" Leo laughed and teased "All you have to do is get in the car, princess." She rolled her eyes and Hazel asked "Where are we going to steal it from?" Percy frowned and replied "Didn't think of that yet." I quickly suggested "We could get it from a dump or something." I turned to Leo and asked "Would you be able to fix it up? I heard you were amazing with machines and tinkering." He sighed and replied "I could, but that's only if it has all the parts and usually people throw out cars when they're lost causes." I thought for a second before offering "What if I could get the parts you needed?" He rose an eyebrow and asked "And how exactly would you do that?" I smirked and replied "Does it matter?" Annabeth popped her head in between us and answered "I'd like to know." I ignored her and asked Leo "Could you do it?" He nodded and explained "If I had all the parts... I could have it done by tomorrow." He grinned and I replied "Then I guess we better head to the dump." I smiled and Annabeth began to search for the dump on the map. "Here! It's not that far! Come on." she exclaimed before hurrying out the train station. We hurried after her and after a few turns on the sidewalk, we arrived. We went in and split up to search for a car. After about 15 minutes, Jason called "Found one!" Everyone went to where his voice was and all were happy that it wasn't a rusty piece of trash. Leo began inspecting and after a couple minutes he turned to me. "It needs an oil filter, a muffler, and a fuel pump. After that, all it'll need is some gas and we'll be on the road in no time. Now will you tell me where you're going to get those parts?" I shook my head and simply stated "Nope! I'll be back with what you need." I strolled to another area of the dump that was far away from the others. I sighed and grabbed a strong piece of scrap metal nearby. I tried focusing on heating up the metal and molding it into a muffler and took a deep breath. After a couple minutes I groaned and couldn't help but remember how much easier it was to control my powers when Nico was helping me. I felt bad for ignoring what he said and using my powers anyways, but I wanted to help anyway I could and Nico didn't seem to understand that. I smiled as I thought about Nico and I. I thought back to when we fell asleep in the tree at camp and were late to Chiron's meeting. I lightly laughed and was shocked that the metal in my hands suddenly molded to what I wanted. I shaped it into a muffler before cooling down my hands and putting it to the side. I did the other parts and they all looked like parts you got for much more than a piece of metal at a dump. I cooled my hands down along with all the actual metals and waited for the scalding immense pain on my back, but it never came. My eyebrows furrowed, though I brushed it off and grabbed the parts. I went back to where everyone was and Leo hurried over to me. I handed him the parts and he beamed. "I don't know how you got these, but you're awesome. These look brand new!" I smiled and Leo hurried away to start putting the parts on. Nico strolled over to me and questioned "Now where did you seriously get those parts?" I shook my head and repeated "Like I said, it doesn't matter." Nico gently grabbed my arm and pulled me to a more private area of the dump where no one could hear us. He argued "It does to me. Everyone else might be okay with you magically having the pieces we need, but I want to know the truth that you are avoiding." I was confused and stated "I'm not avoiding anything and it's not any of your business. I'm my own person and can do what I want." He shook his head and seemed to get angry and stressed. His voice raised to a shout and he demanded "Just tell me where you got the parts!" I was became annoyed and yelled "You don't need to know!" He insisted "Yes I do! Where did you get them Charlotte!" My anger began to raise and I was a little scared at how angry Nico was getting. "Like I said, it doesn't matter! Why are you so mad at me?!" I asked and my anger was slowly raising higher and higher. "I'm mad because... because I know you're lying to me!" he replied and I quickly spoke "So what if I am?!" I noticed his fist clench up and he shouted "I don't like you lying to me Charlotte!" I groaned and threw my hands up in the air. "Well that's too bad!" I replied and he groaned too. "Why do you care about what I do so much?!" I added and he ran his hands through his hair roughly, beginning to pace. He stormed back over to me and yelled "Because I care about you! Because I can't stand the thought of you being hurt and your recklessness getting you hurt!" My anger disappeared and my face softened. He realized what he said and his anger dissipated. We just stared at each other for a second before I asked "Why?" He sighed and replied "I... I don't know. I just never want to see you hurt. It kills me every time you use a power and... and..." He silenced and I stated "I... I care about you too." He looked into my eyes and I saw vulnerability and some other emotion I couldn't decipher. "You make me a better person, Nico. I'm not as angry and I'm more in control when I'm with you. Without you, I feel so... powerless." I confessed and I looked away from his piercing stare. I never shared my feelings like this, I never had feelings like this. Nico stepped closer to me and lifted his hand to my chin, softly pushing my head up to look back at him. I felt a fuzzy feeling in my chest and he kept his hand on my chin.  "I feel the exact same." He spoke and my heart beat picked up. He leaned towards me slowly and I did the same. I closed my eyes and our lips connected. Nico's soft, gentle lips molded perfectly with mine as we continued to kiss. I rose my hands up and ran my fingers through his hair while his hand moved to my cheek. After a couple minutes, we pulled apart and I grinned as I opened my eyes. Nico had a dopey smile on his face and I laughed quietly. "We... we should get back." I mentioned, slightly flustered. Nico chuckled and nodded. He grabbed my hand and led me back to the group. Nico went over to Annabeth, whispered something in her ear, and pulled me away from the group again. We laid down on a mattress and I laid my head on Nico's shoulder. "So now what?" I asked and Nico was quiet for a second. I looked up to make sure he was still awake, and he was. I went back to how I was once he replied "We can work that out once we finish this quest." I nodded and closed my eyes, getting tired quickly. "Night, Nico." I yawned and Nico laughed "Night, Char." My consciousness faded away, my last thought being Nico's lips on mine.