❛003❜
WHAT IS THE best way to spend your night back at camp? ivy has the answer. with a demigod nightmare.
it was storming on a beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. the eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. the horse reared up and kicked at the eagle's wings. as they fought, the ground rumbled. and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.
ivy ran towards them, knowing she had to stop them from killing each other, but she was running in slow motion. the daughter of aphrodite knew she would be too late. she was the eagle dive dow, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and she screamed, no!
she woke up with a start.
glancing around her cabin, ivy could see all of her siblings sleeping peacefully. she slowed down her rapid breathing. the dream unsettle her to the pits of her stomach. demigod nightmares usually had meanings behind them, and this one had been particularly strange.
swinging her legs out of her bed and putting her bunny slippers on, she decided to take a walk. ivy hoped to be tired enough after to get a few more hours of sleep. with stealthy steps, she walked towards the nearest window to her. cracking it open, and sitting herself on the edge.
avoiding the camp's perimeters, it was really storming. a furious wind and rattling rain that seemed eternal. she wouldn't be surprised if there was news of closed roads due to fallen trees and blown down houses tomorrow morning. an eagle and a horse, ivy thought.
she looked down to appreciate her pajamas. a beige silk button up and matching shorts. it was good enough to go outside, she figured. none of her bits and pieces were out.
her bare feet hit the grass floor on the outside of the cabin ten. closing the window slightly behind her, leaving a gap to sneak back in after. ivy started to stroll aimlessly around camp. her brain was a jumbled mess. mulling over the dream over and over again.
the eagle. the horse. the chuckle. the eagle. the horse. the chuckle.
somehow, after not really registering her path. ivy found herself standing in front of the big house. deciding last minute it was best to tell chiron about her dream, she made her way inside. looking through the different rooms, ivy was beginning to think he had gone to sleep. until she heard the murmurs of a conversation. following the sound, it led her to the infirmary.
walking inside, the daughter of aphrodite found chiron and annabeth mid conversation. her blonde curly hair was pulled in a ponytail, her own pajamas consisting of an extra large camp shirt and striped pants. she looked like she was trying to convince chiron to tell her about what was happening. the centaur was shaking his head, looking nervously at the storm outside of the window.
ivy knocked on the door to make her presence known. the two halted their conversation and turned to look at her. she smiled at annabeth knowingly, her best friend was never one to back down from a mystery. annabeth wailed her arm out slightly, turning back to the centaur, not minding ivy to hear what she had to say.
"okay chiron, but you've never kept anything from me–or ivy. if you could just tell us a little, maybe we help somehow–"she said
"get a quest," ivy interrupted annabeth's restless ranting, "you could get a quest."
a quest wasn't ivy's life goal. she was fine with staying at camp, going to school, playing music, and most importantly. not risking her life. but annabeth had different ambitions, she wanted to make her mother proud. maybe see the mortal world a bit more. and as the amazing best friend she was, ivy supported her wholeheartedly. even if the thought of losing her scared her more than anything.
"a–fucking–quest–" annabeth said in excitedly as her gray eyes sparkled with a million different ideas coming to her.
"language," chiron said.
"–i truly love you ivy. really. but you see chiron? telling us would bene–"
a loud thud stopped her short.
"wait–" chiron started.
the two best friend's weren't listening. they sprinted outside of the infirmary to look at the culprit, chiron hot on their heels. when ivy opened the front door, she didn't expect to see a half dead percy with a moaning grover sprawled out on the porch.
without thinking, ivy kneeled next to percy. looking over at him to assess his wounds. annabeth stood behind her as she said, "he's the one. he must be."
"silence, annabeth," chiron said. "he's still conscious. bring him inside."
ivy gazed toward the sky, she realized now. the storm had stopped.
chiron had assigned annabeth and ivy to heal percy back to health. he thought that it was best to keep his arrival as silent as possible. which of course, now caused everyone to know about him.
she wouldn't have minded taking care of percy if it wasn't that she was basically the only one taking her of him. annabeth came and went, but since she wasn't that good at healing, percy's health was left up to ivy. leaving her being scooped up in the infirmary at all times.
taking care of the black-haired boy was probably the worst job she's ever had. but she's never had a job. so the first worst job experience ever.
from the other side of the bed percy laid in, annabeth snorted, "he drools."
"no shit i didn't notice. it's not like i've been taking care of him this entire fucking time," ivy glared at her best friend resentfully.
the blonde shrugged, "i'm not the one scooping drool off his chin. and i'm happy not to be."
ivy took another spoonful of nectar, scotting closer to percy. she opened his mouth and feeded him the nectar.
"well, technically you should be the one. it's a job for two, annie," ivy said. annabeth was too concentrated in the book she was reading to listen.
the daughter of aphrodite held back a laugh as she scraped the drool off of percy's chin. a smirk unknowingly made way into her features while thinking of how much information she had over him. she was about to tell annabeth to get a camera when she heard a groan. a groan coming from percy.
ivy opened her mouth to use her charmspeak on percy to lure back to sleep. she didn't get the chance to, as annabeth jumped to her feet and asked, "what will happen at the summer solstice?"
percy delirious managed to croak, "what?"
"annie, he's not capable of answering right now. percy go–" ivy started using her charmspeak in her last words. annabeth was too curious for her own good.
"what's going on? what was stolen? we've only got a few week!"
"i– ivy– what–" percy replied.
"go to sleep," charmful words came out of ivy's mouth. she shoved forcefully a spoonful of nectar into his mouth.
percy fell asleep instantly.
annabeth turned to glare at her, "you should've let me question him!"
ivy shook her indignantly. putting the bowl of nectar aside, and taking a nearby drag to wipe the remaining drool off of percy.
"maybe you could've questioned him if you actually took care of him like you're supposed to!"
ivy and annabeth were summoned to the big house on percy's last day as a coma patient. well, in reality it had been just ivy. but where she went annabeth followed. so chiron wasn't surprised when the blonde tagged along.
they've been waiting for a few minutes on the porch of the big house. mr d and chiron were talking a little further away from the two girls. ushed tone making it impossible to eavesdrop.
"do you think we're getting a quest?" annabeth whispered as she leaned against the railing of the porch. ivy bit the inside of her cheek in thought.
"i don't know, annie. but with everything happening in olympus i think the only way to fix it is with a quest," she replied. annabeth stayed quiet, her brows furrowed in thought and muttering things like 'he's the one' 'stolen' 'big three.'
ivy looked towards the rest of camp. the valley extending all the way to long island sound, which glittered a mile in the distance. the landscape was dotted with ancient greek architecture–and open-air pavilion, an amphitheatre, a circular arena–the buildings all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. in the beach volleyball court, a dozen campers and satyrs played volleyball. canoes glided across the canoe lake. members of cabin five were chasing the stoll brother and tobias around the cabins. the competent archery class led by rae bourgeois and lee fletcher was in full swing. silena beauregard and sydney earl, two of ivy's sisters, were leading the pegasus riding lesson.
she wrinkled her nose in distaste at mr d's game of pinochle. the god was small, but porky. he had a red nose, big watery eyes and curly hair so black it was almost purple. he wore a tiger-pattern hawaiian shirt, it was so ugly ivy had to fight the urge to chuck it in the fire.
"mr brunner!" a voice cried. ivy turned to look at the source, and it was percy. he still looked a bit sickly, but not half dead like before.
from beside ivy, chiron smiled at the boy. his eyes had that mischievous glint when passing as her latin teacher and made all the multiple choice answers b in a pop quiz.
"ah, good, percy," he said. "now we have four for pinochle."
he offered him a chair to the right of mr d, who looked at percy with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "oh, i suppose i must say it. welcome to camp half-blood. there. now don't expect me to be glad to see you."
sometimes, ivy finds mr d really funny. this was one of those times.
"uh, thanks." percy scooted away from him.
"annabeth? ivy?" chiron called on the two girls.
they stepped forward and chiron said, "this young ladies nursed you back to health, percy. my dears, why don't you go check on percy's bunk? we'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now."
ivy nodded, while annabeth replied, "sure, chiron."
the blonde turned and walked down the lawn. ivy stayed on her spot standing in front of percy. she glanced at the minotaur horn on his hand, the back at him. he raised his brows, expecting her to say something about it. against her better judgement, she was internally impressed with him.
but instead of praising him ivy said, "wipe the drool off your chin," while giving him a fleeting smirk.
she sprinted off behind annabeth, her brown waves flying behind her. leaving an offended percy behind. ivy managed to catch up with her best friend at the volleyball court. the daughter of athena raised an eyebrow at her behavior.
"do you have to torment him every chance you get?"
"duh," ivy rolled her eyes. "him being at camp doesn't translate to sudden niceness from me. he's still annoying. and i still can't stand him."
now it was annabeth's turn to roll her eyes, "you have more enemies than friends."
"that's not true. i have loads of friend," she retorted. "and having enemies is healthy. makes capture the flag interesting."
annabeth laughed, craning her head towards the cabin, "let's go, i think luke's already finished with his volleyball game."
ivy gave her a raised eyebrow, unimpressed.
"you know, chiron said we need to check for a bunk. not talk to luke," she said. her best friend blushed, speed walking to the cabins without answering. annabeth found any excuse she could to talk to the older camper.
ivy trailed behind her. she had no one to fangirl over in cabin eleven. when they reached the cabin, she admired the bizarre collection of buildings that made camp.
number nine–hephaestus–had smokestacks like a tiny factory. number four–demeter–had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of grass. seven–apollo–seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at. the cabins all faced the common area, dotted with greek statues, fountains, flower bed, and a couple of basketball hoops.
in the center was a huge stone-lined fire pit. modeled after hestia's hearth in olympus in her honor. even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smouldered.
the daughter of aphrodite spotted annabeth in front of the last cabin on the left, cabin eleven. she was flipping through the pages of a book in architecture, as usual.
"i'll go talk to luke about that bunk," ivy announced as she reached her. "wanna come with?"
annabeth scowled at her teasing tone. huffing she settled on a page, "i'm good, thanks. i'll wait here for chiron."
ivy rolled her eyes, but stepped into cabin eleven. the inside was packed with campers. sleeping bags spread over on the floor. it reminded her of an evacuation center. while making her sad all the same, it was unfair for someone to live like this for years because of their parents.
she looked around the room searching for luke, or maybe the stolls. ivy found tobias deep in rant with ethan nakamura, an unclaimed camper who he made fast friends with. although she had the sneaking suspicion that he had a crush on the asian boy, after all he was kind of cute. they were sitting on ethan's sleeping bag in the further corner of the cabin.
"do you know where luke is?" ivy asked them from where she stood. "or the stolls?"
ethan pointed with his head to the bathroom door and said, "last i saw luke he was changing in the bathroom. why are you looking for the stolls? did they turn your pillows into swans?"
ivy laughed at the idea. the stolls knew better than to mess with her cabin ever since she put them in the infirmary for two weeks. she leaned against the doorway, crossing her arms and ankles casually.
"no, no. just a new camper. i need to know where there's any space for him," ivy winced at the idea of yet another camper to cram into cabin eleven. ethan groaned, throwing his head back. he wasn't pleased with the idea either.
"is he cute?" tobias asked. "is it the cute guy that made all that juicy tension filled eye contact with at your school? the one that was with grover? he killed the minotaur didn't he?"
ivy glared at him. tobias was more observant than he led on. and ivy had not thought about the eye contact thing since it happened.
"the eye contact thing wasn't juicy tension filled! it was normal i don't like you eye contact," for some reason, ivy found herself blushing when thinking about the juicy tension filled eye contact thing. she turned to ethan, eager to leave. pushing herself off the wall.
"tell luke to find him a spot, please. he's probably coming soon with chiron."
ethan nodded, sending her a smile. tobias seemed against the idea of her escape, "wait i have questi–"
ivy didn't hear the rest. turning and closing the cabin door behind her. annabeth was consumed in her book. she didn't notice her best friend's slightly flustered state. ivy took a deep breath, breathing in the strawberry scented air. taking the guitar pick out of her pocket and flipping it, the golden knife making an appearance in her hand. she twirled it around her fingers as she paced in front of the cabin, waiting for chiron and percy.
the loud clop of chiron's hooves snapped ivy out of her trance. she turned her knife back to a guitar pick, putting it back in her back pocket. standing next to annabeth, chiron and percy reached them in front of cabin eleven.
looking at percy, ivy's mind went to his drool. pity she didn't take a picture.
"annabeth, ivy," chiron said, "i have a masters' archery class at noon. would you take percy from here?"
the daughter of aphrodite was about to say no. she would not. because she had a masters archery class to take at noon. but annabeth answered for her.
"yes, sir."
ivy gave her a look of betrayal.
"cabin eleven," chiron told percy, gesturing towards the doorway. "make yourself at home."
the centaur didn't go in. the door was too low for him. but when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully.
"well, then," chiron said. "good luck, percy. i'll see you at dinner."
he galloped away towards the archery range.
percy stood like a log in the doorway. the campers were doing the usual routing of sizing the newbies up.
"don't stand there," ivy prompted. moving her hand in a go on motion.
and he tripped. snickers were heard from the campers, but none of them said anything. ivy had to place a hand in her mouth to stop herself from laughing.
annabeth being the only mature one announced, "percy jackson, meet cabin eleven."
"regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.
she looked towards percy waiting for him to answer, but he didn't seem to know, "undetermined," ivy said.
everybody groaned. and the brunette wasn't surprised.
luke broke from the crowd. "now, now, campers. that's what we're here for. welcome, percy. you can have that spot on the floor right over there."
luke was nineteen, and one of the oldest campers. he was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. he wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with his camp necklace. the thick white car that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw broke his boy next door look.
"this is luke," annabeth said, her voice taking a higher pitch. ivy threw her a glance and her expression hardened, the blush disappearing from her cheeks. "he's your counsellor for now."
"for now?" percy asked.
did he watch the orientation film at all?
"you're undetermined," luke explained, like counting two plus two with apples. "they don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. naturally, we would. hermes, our patron, is the god of travellers."
percy glanced around the room, tightening his grip on the minotaur horn he asked, "how long will i be here?"
"that's the million dollar question," ivy said. "until you're determined."
"how long will that take?"
the orientation film went over his head, ivy concluded.
the campers all laughed.
"come on," annabeth told percy. "we'll show you the volleyball court."
"i've already seen it."
"come on."
ivy grabbed his wrist and dragged him outside. the member of cabin eleven laughing behind them.
when we were a few meters away, annabeth said, "jackson, you have to do better than that."
"what?"
the blonde rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "i can't believe i thought you were the one."
"i told you he wasn't," ivy told her. "he's too much of an asshole to be."
"what's your problem?" percy was raising his voice, his eyes turned stormy and body tense. "all i know is that the princess is here, and i definitely don't want to see her–"
"–the feeling is mutual, perseus–"
"–and i killed some bull guy–" he continued with his rant
"don't talk like that!" annabeth told percy. "you know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"
"the same amount of kids who don't," ivy replied. she was one of the best fighters at camp, sure. but that didn't mean she wanted to pick up a fight with one of the worst monsters.
"a chance to what?" percy was growing tired of being confused. "to get brutally murdered?"
"to fight the minotaur! what do you think we train for?" annabeth answered.
"we train for survival. not to fight. those are two different things," ivy said, crossing her arms. annabeth hasn't been in the mortal world in years, it was like she forgot the true dangers of it. the daughter of athena went to argue with her but ivy interrupted her.
"why don't you let me take it from here?"
annabeth looked at her boredly, "fine. i wanted to go over some blueprints with jane and malcolm anyway." and she walked away, a little bounce on her step with the prospect of architecture.
"annabeth can be a bit... intense," ivy explained to percy who was lost in thought.
"look, if that thing i fought really was the minotaur, the same one in the stories..."
"uhu."
"then there's only one."
"you know how to count. impressive."
"and he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? theseus killed him in the labyrinth. so..."
"monsters don't die, perseus. they can be killed. but they don't stay dead."
"oh, thanks. that clears it up."
"they don't have souls, like humans do. you can banish them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. but they are uh– what did annabeth call them? primal forces. chiron calls them archetypes. eventually, they reform."
ivy prayed none of the monsters she's killed while on the mortal world came back.
"you mean if i accidentally ran through one with a sword–"
"the fu– i mean, mrs dodds. that's right. she's real, i remember. and you made her one pissed off monster."
"so the entire time i thought i was going insane, you knew that she had been real?" percy glared at ivy. his jaw ticking in anger and betrayal.
"well, yeah. but i wasn't going to tell you out of all people," they weren't friends. the had never shared a conversation without arguing, a monster wasn't going to change that. percy took a deep breath, clenching and unclenching his fists.
"you almost called her something. a fury? they're hade's tortures, right?"
ivy glanced nervously at the ground, naming powerful monsters was a dangerous thing to do. "you shouldn't call them by name, even here. we call them the kindly ones, if we have to speak of them at all."
"look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" percy whined. "why do i have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? why is everybody so crowded together? there are plenty of empty bunks right over there."
he pointed to the first few cabins, the color drained from ivy's face. the gods were easily offended, especially when it was about their cabins and kids. "you don't just choose a cabin. it depends on who your parents are. or...your parent."
the daughter of aphrodite stared at the green eyed boy, waiting for him to connect the dots that should have been connected through the orientation film.
"my mom is sally jackson," he said. "works at the candy shop in grand central station. at least, she used to."
"i'm sorry about you mom," ivy knew first hand what it was like to lose a parent. "but that's not what i'm talking about your other parent. your dad."
"he's dead. never knew the man."
she sighed, this conversation got repetitive after having it about a hundred times. "your father's not dead."
"how can you say that? you know him?"
"i know him as much as you do."
"then how can you say–"
"because i know you. you wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."
(cult culture.)
"you don't know anything about me."
"i don't?" ivy raised her eyebrow in challenge. "you moved around from school to school nonstop. and you got kicked out of every single one of them."
"how–"
"diagnosed with dyslexia. probably adhd, too."
percy blushed in embarrassment. "what does that bullshit have to do with anything?"
"there're the ingredients for people like us. almost a sure sign. the letter never stay put, they float around when you read. that's just because your brain is hardwired for ancient greek. and the adhd– impulsiveness and you can't sit still in a classroom. those are your battlefield reflexes. in a real fight. they'd keep you alive. as for the can't pay attention for more than minutes issue, that' because you see too much, not too little. you senses are better than a regular mortal's. naturally, the teachers want you medicated. most of them end up being monsters. they don't want you seeing them like they are."
"you sound like..you went through the same thing?"
"most of the kid here did. and what? you thought i went to yancy willingly? because i didn't, just like you, i'm running out of schools that want to take me in based on my record. besides, if you weren't like us, you wouldn't have survived the minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."
"ambrosia and nectar." his statement sounded more like a question.
"the food and drink we were giving you to heal you. that stuff would've killed a normal kid, pulverized them from the inside out. just accept it. you're a half-blood."
percy might have swallowed a lemon. like everything just started to make sense. maybe he found the orientation fim boring enough to sleep through.
a husky voice yelled, "well! a newbie!"
ivy groaned at the prospect of seeing clarisse la rue. the big girl sauntered towards them. she had other girls behind her, all wearing camo jackets. it wasn't even the cute kind of camo.
"clarisse," the daughter of aphrodite sighed. "why don't you go polish yout spear or something?"
"sure, miss princess," the daughter of ares said. "so we can run through the owl head with it friday night."
"exóloio," ivy said. she wasn't in clarisse's team because she wanted to. silena had made the trade before she got a say, something the two co-cabin counsellors had got into a brief argument about. "i'm not doing your dirty work during the game."
"we'll pulverise them with or without your help anyway," clarisse said, but her eye twitched. perhaps she wasn't sure if she could follow with her promise. she turned towards percy, "who's this little runt?"
"perseu– percy jackson," ivy said, correcting herself when percy glared at her for using his full name. oops. "meet clarisse, daughter of ares."
he blinked. "like...the war god?"
clarisse sneered. "you got a problem with that?"
given your violent tendencies? i do, ivy thought.
"no," percy said, recovering his wits. "it explains the bad smell."
ivy stifled a laugh behind her hand.
clarisse growled. "we got an initiation ceremony for newbies, prissy."
"percy," he corrected.
"whatever. come on. i'll show you."
ivy swallowed the remaining laughter and stepped up, "clarisse–"
"stay out of it, beauty queen."
the brunette knew nothing would get percy out of this, he had to earn his own rep at camp. clarisse was as stubborn as a bull. the black haired boy handed her the minotaur horn, straightening himself up to fight. before he could even turn around completely, clarisse had him by the neck and dragged him over to the communal bathroom.
percy kicked and punched. at least he put up a fight, and ivy had seen percy win in a few fights at yancy before. but his strength was nothing against clarisse's iron grip. she dragged him into the girls' bathroom. ivy followed behind them hesitantly, the bathrooms smelled horribly. there's a reason why they're barely used anymore.
clarisse's gang was laughing hysterically, percy still struggling to find his strength.
"like he's 'big three' material," clarisse said as she pushed percy towards one of the toilets. "yeah, right. the minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid-looking."
her friends snickered like it was the best insult ever. it was mediocre at best. ivy placed her hand over eyes, peeking through her fingers occasionally.
clarisse pushed percy to his knees and started pushing his head towards the toilets. he fought to keep his head up, refusing to touch the scummy water.
then something happened. the plumbing rumbled around the structure, the pipes shuddering. water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over percy's head, before ivy could process anything, percy was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with clarisse screaming behind him.
ivy managed to close her unhinged jaw just as water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt. the water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backwards into a shower stall.
she struggled, gasping for air, and her friends started coming towards her. but then other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. the showers acted up, too, and together all the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away.
as soon as they were out the door, ivy registered something horrible. her shoes were wet.
the entire bathroom was flooded. she hadn't been spared. water dripped from her clothes, ivy was glad she went with a regular camp t-shirt and shorts instead of her more glamorous clothes. and even if her shoe choice for the day wasn't anything really special, just regular white air force one's. she still cared for every piece of her closet like a newborn. ivy glared at percy who ruined another pair of her shoes.
percy looked at her cluelessly. ivy realized that he was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. a perfect circle of dry floor surrounded him. and of course, he was completely dry. ivy wanted clarisse to try the toilet thing on him again.
he stood up shakily. behind her anger for her shoes, ivy's mind was reeling with questions, "how did you..."
"i don't know."
they walked to the door. outside, clarisse and her friend were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage. she gave percy a look of absolute hatred. "you are fucking dead, new boy. totally fucking dead."
"you want to gargle with toilet water again, clarisse? close your mouth," percy said, a wise person would've let it go. but wisdom wasn't one of his personality traits. ivy laughed quietly at his insult.
clarisse's friends had to hold her back. dragging her towards cabin five, while other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet.
ivy bit her cheek as she stared at percy. she cursed silena for her bad trading skills.
"what?" percy demanded. "what are you thinking?"
"i'm thinking," she said, "annabeth is one lucky bitch to have you on her team for capture the flag."
a speaks!
i love ivy. i'm not sure if i want to marry her or be her.