𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 | pjo

five

looking around at the sun-dappled foliage interrupted by towering trees, it was hard not to think of camp. 

lyla missed her cabin. sure, they were an annoying bunch sometimes, but in the end, they were her siblings, and she still missed them. 

"it's a road through the wilderness," grover said, bringing her out of her thoughts while referring to a satyr path. "satyr explorers use them so it's harder to track us." 

"that's great, but if we stay in the wilderness, how are we gonna find a phone?" percy asked. 

lyla furrowed her brows. "what on earth do we need a phone for?" 

"so we can call camp. to—to get help," percy replied. 

lyla exchanged a look with annabeth. "we don't need help. we're fine," annabeth insisted. 

"we're fine?" percy scoffed. "we haven't even gotten to trenton, and we're wandering through a forest! i didn't even know there were forests in new jersey, but we found one. i would say we're the opposite of fine."

annabeth rolled her eyes. "we were sent on a quest by the oracle—the gods. it's not supposed to be easy, and they chose us for a reason." she looked back. "calling camp would show that they made a mistake of choosing us." 

percy shrugged. "i'm completely comfortable with that. everyone makes mistakes."

lyla stopped and narrowed her eyes at percy. "what are you running from? why are you refusing to accept who you are?" 

"what?" he said incredulously. "i—" 

"you know what's interesting about this particular satyr path is that it's actually the one my uncle ferdinand took," grover spoke up, trying to alleviate some of the tension. "when he set out on his own quest." but it seemed as if no one heard him. 

"what's that supposed to mean?! i'm not running away," percy insisted. 

"oh, but you are," lyla retorted, levelling him with a glare. "you know that you're not 'just a kid', but you don't want to believe that. 'just a kid' doesn't get chosen by the oracle. 'just a kid doesn't do what you did to clarisse back at camp and certainly won't have top lieutenants sent to retrieve them. do you get it now?" she took a breath. "you are a part of something so much bigger, and there's no choice but to keep moving forward. okay?" 

percy stared at her for a couple of seconds. "okay. you don't want to call camp? fine. maybe we should call your mom, then." he directed the last sentence towards annabeth.

"excuse me?" her eyes narrowed. 

"you seem close to your mom. at least, you two are on better terms than me and my dad. why not ask her for help?" 

lyla exchanged a look with grover. it was becoming a routinely thing at this point. stuff was about to go down. 

"oh..." percy realised. "you can't ask her, can you? when was the last time she talked to you?" he turned towards lyla. "how about your mom then? or your dad? if our godly parents won't help, how about the mortal ones? or are you on bad terms too—" 

lyla inhaled sharply. "percy." her eyes stung slightly, but hopefully that was just the wind. 

"what?" 

"shut up." she started walking at a much faster pace than before, her face tilted slightly upwards as she blinked rapidly, ignoring the others who continued to bicker. 

she was not going to cry in front of them. 

whatever. 

she wiped at her eyes with her fingers, dissuading any tears from falling.