𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝑰𝒏 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌 ꨄ

t e n

Luna didn't know what to expect when she first saw Percy Jackson. It definitely wasn't a scared, scrawny, twelve year old boy who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there. The way Annabeth had described him that night made it seem like he was a true hero- but looking at him now, Luna had doubts he had killed a minotaur all by himself. A small part of her still held on to the possibility that he might be a child of the big three, if only so she could make herself feel a little better. 

Clarisse targeted him from the moment he arrived. Luna had heard all about it that night in their cabin. She'd missed the toilet incident, but the way the others were talking about it, it looked like they did not care for Percy Jackson one bit. There was a lot of talk and speculation about revenge plans and how exactly he'd managed to kill the monster. But mostly it was about how most of them didn't think it was what happened. 

Beneath all of that though, Luna knew they were envious. This is what they trained for- to fight monsters. They didn't feel accomplished until they did, which spoke volumes about the way demigods were brought up at Camp. Most of them hadn't had a chance to, so whenever somebody who did, showed up, they were properly talked about. 

Luna didn't bother to explain to her cabin mates that being hunted down by monsters was not fun. She understood that the Ares kids weren't really the type of people to fathom deeper emotions other then anger and humour. So if she were to tell them that the only thing she felt when she was fighting monsters was fear and panic, they'd see her as a coward. They certainty wouldn't understand that some demigods wanted to anything but fight monsters in their free time. 

Luna decided to stay indifferent to the whole situation. She was way past judging the Ares kids for being the way they were- she'd gotten used to it. Plus, she knew nothing about this Percy kid, so it really wasn't her place to care what happened to him or weather he got bullied by Clarisse. 

With all of that said, she couldn't stop herself from at least attempting to defend him. 

"Just stop going after him for no reason," Luna was saying as Clarisse got ready for archery class. "He hasn't done anything to you." 

"Awh," Clarisse pretended to be disappointed. "But he's so tiny and weak and there-" 

Luna crossed her arms. "I'm tiny and here. Don't see you picking on me, do I?" 

The Ares girl smiked. She seemed to be in an awfully good mood considering she'd gotten dunked in toilet water not a day ago.  "Yeah but you earned it," She flicked Luna's nose. "You're tougher then you look. I respect that. As for that little rug rat..." Her eyes shone eagerly. "He won't see us coming at capture the flag. We will win." 

"Alright, but you're done with him after that, ok?" 

Silence. 

"Ok?" 

"Fine, fine." Clarisse grumbled. "You never let me have any fun." 

Luna raised her eyebrows. "Fun that doesn't include fighting with others for no reason, you mean." 

"Whatever," The Ares girl said. "I'm going," 

Hours later, Clarisse led them to dinner. As spring had come to an end, the cabins started to grow more and more in half bloods. By June, camp half blood fostered a good gathering of 100 demigods- all of which were now marching along. There was still light outside, the sky painted in a pretty orange. Around them, grass was lush and green and full of flowers (probably curtesy of the Demeter cabin) 

A half hour later, when everyone had settled in and eaten, Chiron pounded his hoof against the ground for attention. 

Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."