Fatal Flaw: Empathy (Nico di Angelo)

Chapter Seven

Don't own Percy Jackson. I wish.

Over the next week, Aletha experimented with her powers. She had very weak water capabilities in front of the rest of camp, since she couldn't use her voice. Even a light hum would bring her power levels to something expected of Percy's Sister. She also learned, through several instances of being called Shrimp by Nico and the rest of camp, that she could cause earthquakes. Aletha really needed to keep her emotions and voice in check.

It seemed that her grace period was over in the camp. Everyone expected her to be naturally good with a sword or with water like Percy was. But having the winner of two wars against the Titans for a brother wasn't exactly the easiest thing to accomplish. Not to mention how everyone was talking about how Percy had been claimed in a time of strength, while she'd been caught by the entire mess hall crying. Oof.

Talk about some serious sibling problems. Percy was nice, and Annabeth, Clarisse, and Nico knew she could accomplish a lot. The trouble wasn't that Aletha didn't know that she had a lot of potential for good. It was that she also had as much potential for destruction as she did good. Her first time using her powers had left Annabeth nearly deaf, and she held the fear inside her that she would hurt someone.

The other campers began to whisper. Whisper about how unlike Percy she was. Aletha heard things about her like, "big talk for a small shrimp," or "just do something already." Her friends in the Ares cabin were helpful in sending them off, but that didn't mean they hadn't pestered her either.

Enough was enough for her one day as she went into the armory in the cover of night. Artemis' moon chariot was high in the sky, probably on auto-pilot, as Aletha snuck around to find something that attracted her. She looked and looked, nothing in the armory was working for her. She would not be defeated. The metal here wasn't calling to her. She needed to meet her father. She knew that much. But she wondered when.

Percy has mentioned something about their dad approaching him, but Aletha wasn't Percy. She marched into the beach, and dove down into the water. She hummed and sang happily as she descended further into the water. She beached at an underwater shipwreck. It was called the Andromeda.

"Aletha Fárence." A booming voice filled her head. She wasn't sure if it was through her ears or some sort of mental connection. "I didn't expect to see you so soon. Welcome, daughter."