Peripeteia - P.J.

We capture the flag

Later that day, Ophelia found the boys reunited at the dining hall and, upon closer inspection and noticing how Percy only played with the food in his plate instead of eating it, she knew whatever Luke had tried with Percy that afternoon hadn't had the expected result.

I'm guessing nothing worked? She asked, as she climbed into the bench beside Percy, moving to sit down as the boys all turned to look at her.

"No, it didn't work." Luke confirmed, to which Percy sighed.

"Is there a Greek god of disappointment?" He asked, causing Ophelia to send him an empathetic look as she sighed. "Maybe someone should ask him if he's missing a kid."

"Oizys... But she's a goddess." Chris answered before anyone could even think about comforting Percy. "And her whole thing isn't really disappointment, it's more like failure."

"We're gonna find the thing that you're good at." Luke assured, noticing the way Percy deflated even more. "I know it."

Before any of them could say anything, however, a bell chimed and Luke and Chris started to climb out of their own bench in front of Percy's.

"Our turn."

"Our turn for what?" Percy frowned, confused.

"Burnt offerings." Luke explained. "The gods like the smell, so it gets their attention before you say a prayer."

"They like the smell of burnt mac & cheese?" Percy asked, to which Ophelia breathed out a laugh.

"They like the smell of begging." Chris said, rolling his eyes as he made his way away from the table and toward the fireplace instead.

"You burn what you'll miss the most." Luke added to Chris slightly ill-timed joke. "Then they know you really mean what you're about to say, so they listen."

And, with another nod in his direction, Luke also turned around to the fire, leaving a very confused Percy behind. Turning to the side to look at Ophelia, Percy sent her what she could only read as a very lost look. She smiled, nodding at the fire and placing a hand on his shoulder while the other pointed at his food and then the fireplace.

"So I just... Burn anything?" He asked, as Ophelia shrugged with a nod. "And they listen? To anything."

Ophelia nodded. Supposedly, she wanted to say, but she didn't. Mostly because she knew Percy wouldn't understand if she did, but partly because she didn't want to scare him with the reality of their Olympian family quite just yet.

"Okay, fine. I'll burn some of my mac & cheese." Percy huffed, standing up from the table as Ophelia smiled. Before he could walk away from her, though, he frowned as he looked down at the table and noticed Ophelia didn't have a plate of food in front of her. "Aren't you going to eat? You're not gonna burn anything?"

She rolled her hand as if to say later, but really, what she wanted to say was no. Ophelia had done her fair share of offerings. Years worth of them. And none of her questions had been answered.

As it seemed, not even the gods were bothered enough to learn how to hear what she had to say.

***

"Have you made up your mind yet?" Annabeth asked, as she sat with Ophelia later that night at the front porch of her Cabin. "You have to have your opinion by now, Phee. Capture the Flag is tomorrow. Or, rather... Today, maybe? What time is it?"

Breathing out a laugh, Ophelia shrugged as she lifted her hands to give Annabeth her answer.

I think he has potential, she said.