(REWRITING) 𝓖𝓸𝓵𝓭𝓮𝓷 𝓶𝓪𝓰𝓲𝓬 | 𝐏𝐉𝐎¹

one, is it really you?

     Her body straightened up. Sheila glanced around, realizing she had fallen asleep in the Dining Pavilion. Papers full of her messy handwriting and passable drawings were scattered under her arms. Some kids from the Hermes cabin were still at their table, and Katie Gardner sat with one of her sisters at the Demeter table. Everyone else had left after dinner ended. Sheila hadn't even noticed her brothers had gone to train.

It was the last day of autumn. Snow had already fallen around Camp, a fine layer covering the grass. The lake had yet to freeze, but with the cold weather announced for the next week, Sheila knew she would soon see campers skating on ice. The Aphrodite cabin had already taken it upon themselves to decorate the Camp for the Holiday season. Sheila waved at the girl climbing a ladder to hang paper snowflakes made by younger demigods in Arts and Crafts.

     "Hey, Witchy, are you listening?"

Shifting her gaze, Sheila frowned at the boy standing before her. His hair was done in cornrows, the same style he had when he left for a trip with his parents last summer. He was wearing one of Lee Fletcher's hoodies. Its bright yellow tissue was a giveaway. Not that it mattered. Their relationship was a secret to no one. Sheila also noticed how intensely the brown of his eyes stared into her golden, awaiting an answer.

     The boy was a painful reminder of Luke. While they physically only had their eyes in common, they were similar in other ways. Both were sons of Hermes. After the boy returned from his trip, he replaced Luke as the Hermes cabin counsellor. Their ways of handling things were the same. Strangely, it felt as if Luke never left sometimes. Sheila would go to the Sword Fighting Area and expect him to be there, only for flashbacks to haunt her. He wasn't the one teaching kids anymore. He was gone.

Shaking her heartbreak away, she spoke, "Sorry, James. I," she yawned, "fell asleep."

     James huffed a laugh. "Yeah, I know. That's why I'm here. Clarisse wants to see what else your spear can do. You haven't used it in four months. Time to up your game."

"At least I know how to use one," Sheila retorted. "You can't even hold a sword."

     Holding a hand to his chest in fake offence, James lowly whistled. "Why are you so snappy today? Did Harley mess the car up again?"

If she was honest, Sheila didn't know herself. Her chest had been burning in anger since summer ended. The nightmares were growing worse and more frequent. She could be awake and unable to distinguish vision and reality. Kronos had started to use his leverage on her, threatening Bonnie's life every night. His golden eyes haunted Sheila when she was forced to stare at her reflection in the mirror. He was calling from Tartarus, trying to play with her unstable magic.

     The instability might have been the cause of her changing demeanour. Bonnie didn't lie when she said her quest to the Underworld would mess with Sheila's magic. Every spell was more demanding to control. Training without them became almost impossible. When she used her spear, Sheila couldn't hold her magic in. Chiron had once again banned using her flames, but this time, she was relieved. No one could be certain there wouldn't be another accident without Charlie's soothing presence.

However, Clarisse was adamant about making Sheila practice. They had gone over the same hand-to-hand combat techniques for weeks, and she wanted to see more from the witch. James agreed, the two refusing to let it go. They were close to forcing Sheila to grab her spear and stab them with it.

     "I just don't get why you won't leave me alone," Sheila mumbled, rubbing the tiredness out of her eyes. "I can't use fire, so no spear for me. Why not use a bow? Or even daggers? Annabeth would love to see that once she comes back."