Hearts Crossed - Kayla Knowles (2)

Sherman I (TLH)

Chapter Title: Jason Has A Cool Coin And Aphrodite Strikes Again!

Sherman was never the type to be frustrated at campfire, he'll admit.. unless of course it's some bullshit about the gods, or just some bullshit in the ongoing Jackson — Reynolds rivalry between Percy and Colton. These days though, were a very different story and for good reason.

Sherman honestly, if you asked him, blamed Beckendorf for the current situation, even though he wouldn't so much as even admit that to Beckendorf's face. Not in the less because he would probably have to endure a dressing down by Colton if he did. So Sherman would keep his own mouth shut on this. But he was dead certain it was Beckendorf's fault.

Exactly what Sherman thought was Beckendorf's fault was rather simple. Since he had left, things had gone wrong for Cabin 10, and the extent of that problem had manifested itself in the fact that since the Bronze Dragon had gone haywire and settled in the area that they usually used for Capture The Flag, they couldn't do Capture The Flag for now, which ticked Sherman, Clarisse, and their siblings off. Colton had been formulating a plan in his head about how to resolve the situation, but he had vanished before he could complete his plan.

It was frustrating, to say the least. But at least he had Miranda. They had grown even closer together since the Battle of Manhattan and while Sherman wouldn't exactly quite admit that he was in love with her, at the very least - he knew that his feelings towards the girl from the Demeter Cabin definitely went beyond friend-level, or best friend level for that matter.

Plus, there was campfire coming up in a few minutes' time as he and his siblings headed toward the camp area, joined by Clarisse and to Sherman and his siblings' surprise, Austin M. and Caeli. The fact that Austin and Caeli had decided to come back to help out as soon as they had heard about the disappearances was definitely a warm boost to the morale of the Ares Cabin, and probably to camp as well. Either way, the night was still young and hopefully, they might hear some good news about if they would be able to play Capture the Flag soon.

- — - — - — -

The whole campfire idea freaked Piper out. It made her think of that huge purple bonfire in the dreams, and her father tied to a stake. It made her feel very uneasy about it all, as she definitely did not want to be near something that reminded her of.. that.

What she got instead was almost as terrifying: a sing-along. The amphitheater steps were carved into the side of a hill, facing a stone-lined fire pit. Sixty or seventy, maybe eighty — Piper wasn't sure — kids filled the rows, clustered into groups under various banners.

Piper spotted Jason in the front next to Annabeth. Leo was nearby, sitting with a bunch of burly-looking campers under a steel gray banner emblazoned with a hammer. She also could Bryce, Alyssa, and Clara sitting nearby close to Jason, while Kayla was chatting with some other people near the top. Standing in front of the fire, half a dozen campers with guitars and strange, old-fashioned harps—lyres?—were jumping around, leading a song about pieces of armor, something about how their grandma got dressed for war. Everybody was singing with them and making gestures for the pieces of armor and joking around. It was quite possibly the weirdest thing Piper had ever seen—one of those campfire songs that would've been completely embarrassing in daylight; but in the dark, with everybody participating, it was kind of corny and fun. As the energy level got higher, the flames did too, turning from red to orange to gold.

Sherman, meanwhile, just watched Piper walk up to it all. He had to admit, she definitely reminded him a bit of Percy to be honest. While she wasn't exactly as clueless as Percy had been, she definitely seemed to have those same eyes of being thrust into a world you didn't understand that he had when Percy had first shown up at camp all those years ago. Of course, both of them paled in comparison to Colton's eyes when he had first shown up at camp. Wide eyed to the limit of human eyebrow extension, terrified, blinking rapidly.. it was even a miracle that Clarisse turned him into the brutal, powerful juggernaut that he was when Percy first came to camp.