[2] 𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐖𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐈𝐌 𝐀 𝐆𝐎𝐃 , 𝗉𝖾𝗋𝖼𝗒 𝗃𝖺𝖼𝗄𝗌𝗈𝗇

𝗍𝖾𝗇 | 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝗻

          Twenty more minutes passed and they hopped out of the taxi, the driver glaring daggers at Regina for leaving salt and ketchup all over the back seat. Percy apologised for her behaviour, while she stuck her middle finger out at him when he said he'd report her.

          "You really need to stop causing arguments with people." Percy huffed as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket, Regina running her fingers through the ends of her hair to untangle it.

          "Well maybe he should drive quicker." She said, giving a random and totally irrelevant excuse as to why she acted the way she did. Sometimes she just started arguments because she was bored, but most of the time it was just because fighting was in her nature.

          They watched together as three large vans pulled up to the curb, and for a second Regina thought they were about to kidnap them. New York was sketchy when you went into the wrong areas. Then she saw Argus, the Camp security guard in the drivers seat and her breath let out of relief.

           The doors slid open and campers began to flood out, all of them wearing the signature orange camp tee underneath armour and harnesses. For some reason, Regina never owned one. Maybe they had to go to Chiron and buy one, or hand in an application for one or something. She didn't mind that much: orange was not her colour.

          It seemed that everyone she knew was there: Pollux, The Stoll Brothers, Michael Yew, Katie Gardner and more. She felt like throwing up a little when she saw Thomas jump out with Silena walking beside him, leaning on his arm as her face looked sunken and tired. Thomas quickly caught her eye, then dropped it even quicker. Regina didn't know if she wanted to drop to her knees and beg him to talk to her or beat him to a pulp until he spoke to her. They both sounded as worse as each other.

          Annabeth also jumped out with her siblings, the new counsellor of the Apollo Cabin, Elio Gray trailing behind them in his usual clumsy manner. Regina knew he was Lee's best friend, and Thomas would rant a lot about how annoying he was. Regina tried to stay clear of him, but his ability to reel around everyone and insert himself into everyone's space and conversations was astounding; he resembled a wasp.

          "M'lady." Elio muttered with a courtesy, his usual smirk on his lips. He swung his arm over Regina's shoulders and turned his head to look at her while Percy gave him a swift glance. "Haven't seen you in quite a while. You still look good."

          Regina grunted then elbowed him in the stomach, Elio clutching it with his arms and letting out a breath with a blow of his cheeks. "You look worse. Don't know how you managed that."

          "And still as sweet as ever." He choked, rubbing on his stomach like he was a pregnant lady. "Anyway, here's a bag full of stuff that will keep you from dying, like, a second fucking time."

          Regina caught the bag the blonde haired boy threw into her arms as Percy approached Annabeth, Chiron and her siblings, discussing with them a plan of some sorts. The bag seemed light, so she opened it up and was surprised at how much there actually was. Elio packed the bag like he was Mary Poppins. There were bottles of nectar and wrapped foils of ambrosia. Bandages, medicine and plasters were in one ziplock, hair ties and small snacks in the other. On the side was water in a flask. She scowled at Elio when she saw that there were some personal possessions he shoved in there, knowing that he must have snuck into her cabin to take them. But she couldn't be too mad: he had brought her war paint.