SALT AND THE SEA, percy jackson¹

two, camp tour and bursting pipes

     Ivy smiled, thankful for an opportunity to change topic. "These are the strawberry fields! We grow them here at camp to bring in some income, pay for certain expenses and such. Mr. D helps them grown 'cause of his wine god abilities so they're always in season for us." the daughter of Hecate explained. She plucked two berries off of a vine while the satyr involved with bug cleansing duties wasn't looking, tossing one to Percy who caught it unexpectedly. He muttered a small thank you and took a bite.

     The two continued their walk through the fields in silence until Percy spoke up. "Grover won't be in too much trouble, will he? What happened wasn't his fault." he asked. "If I'm being honest, I don't know. I'm sure he will be, it's just the Council of Cloven Elders and Mr. D may not agree. It's a complicated topic for a lot of reasons." she responded. That was the wrong thing to say though, only prompting Percy to continue with his questions.

     "How is it complicated?" he said. Ivy sighed, coming to a stop and turning towards the boy. "Look Percy, can we please just drop it?" she pleaded. Percy looked conflicted, but after a minute of silence he nodded. "Okay." Ivy softly said, continuing on the tour.

     The silence between them lasted about a minute before Percy spoke up again. "Ivy?" he said. "Yeah?" Ivy glanced at the boy. "If the gods and Olympus and all that are real........does that mean the Underworld is real too?" Ivy hesitated, wondering how to word her response. She wished Chiron would appear and do the talking for her, it was getting tiring deciding how much Percy should know.

     "Yeah. There is a place spirits go after, well, you know. But I'd prefer if we don't talk about it for now. It's just, not a topic I really wanna discuss." Ivy answered honestly. Percy sighed and nodded like before, growing tired of his questions being evaded.

     The two stopped by the forest, and Ivy smiled in relief at the opportunity to switch topics. "These are the woods. They're stunning once you get to walk around them a bit. Though I'd suggest you go in armed." She said.

     "What do you mean armed?" His blue eyes widened with confusion and slight panic. "You'll just have to find out on Friday. It's Capture the Flag." Ivy smiled wickedly. Percy blinked at her, totally confused. Ivy hummed, turning around and clapping her hands together. She continued on with her grand tour, showing Percy the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables, the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater, and the arena where they held sword and spear fights.

     "Sword and spear fights?" Percy said. "It's mainly just for cabin challenges and stuff. Nobody really gets hu- well thats a lie. People do get hurt sometimes but at least nobody's died!" Ivy said. Percy stared at her, and Ivy just shrugged.

"And over here we have the Mess Hall!" Ivy pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns that sat on a hill, overlooking the sea. There were a dozen or so stone picnic tables. It had no roof or walls.

"What do you do if it rains?" Percy questioned. Ivy blinked at him, remembering he probrably didn't know about the lack of weather in the camp due to the magical borders. "Well, we still have to eat right?" She said.

Part of Ivy enjoyed messing with the new kid. She knew she should probrably be nicer to him, and explain what she could about how things worked. But she did find his eternally confused expressions quite hilarious.

Finally, Ivy got to show Percy the cabins. There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They were all arranged in a U shape, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. Even with the symmetrical organization, it did nothing to explain the bizzare designs of each cabin.