𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐀 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅. She didn't have a chance to say goodbye to either Sirius or Remus, but managed to keep in contact with them through letters.
Sirius was currently in some exotic place, lounging with Buckbeak. He told her all about the coconut drinks and the spiky fruit which tasted amazing.
Raya absentmindedly let go of the Snitch every few minutes, racing back and forth to catch it. She was on her Firebolt, behind the Apollo Cabin, practicing for Quidditch. She hadn't been able to play much this year, and she was scared she might've gone rusty.
"Why do I get the feeling you're ignoring me?"
Raya pocketed the letter at the sound of Luke's voice, continuing her practice with the Snitch.
"I'm not," she answered. "I'm just training."
She was ignoring him.
On her way to Camp, Raya had this mental idea that she would be upset and annoyed with Luke for not even mentioning her Christmas present. They sent sparse letters over the second term, and Raya hoped it would make it easier to be mad at him.
But the second Luke arrived, pulling her into a hug, she melted.
When he was near, her brain seemed to go fuzzy. She couldn't be mad at him, or annoyed. She was just so... happy, to be with him, near him.
It was ruining her plan.
She needed to focus. So she began to ignore Luke, the annoyance she felt towards him making itself aware whenever he wasn't near.
"You're not even looking at me right now," he said, still standing on the ground below her.
Raya put on a burst of speed, catching the Snitch. She looked down at him, the afternoon sun making his blond hair glow.
"I'm looking at you," she said. "But I've got to practice."
"Raya, you've been practicing all year," he said. "Can we talk... about whatever it is that's bothering you?"
Raya dismounted her broom, packing it up in it's case. "Nothing's bothering me, Luke. I'm fine."
"Fine is what you say when you're not really," Luke noted. "I — what's wrong?"
"I need to practice," she repeated. "I only got to play one game, and it was against the easiest team. I need all the practice I can get to come back strong this year."
"Wait, why'd you only play one game?" Luke asked. "Shouldn't you have played three?"
"Well, I was playing shit for one, so Roger benched me," Raya shrugged. "I was missing my wrist bones while the other was going on. Pomfrey was adamant on not letting me play that game."
"You were missing your wrist bone?" he exclaimed. "How? When? Why didn't you tell me?"
Raya stared at him, buckling up the Firebolt, "I didn't tell you? I swore I wrote to you about it. Or I thought I did. I forgot, it's not a big deal anyways. We've all been through worse."
Luke grabbed Raya's arm as she moved past him.
"Hey, the town's open today," he said softly, his fingers moving down her arm, lacing them between her own. "I was hoping we could go out, get some ice cream. They stocked up on that butterscotch that you love."
Raya's brain turned to mush.
She said yes, like she always did.
"He was literally groping you!" Luke shouted.
Raya had just slammed the door shut to the Hermes Cabin, adjusting the soundwaves so none of Luke's intrusive siblings could listen in.
"He was teaching me how to use nun chucks!" Raya yelled. "And he's like six years older than me! He's engaged!"
"He had his hands all over you," Luke continued, barely listening to Raya.
"He was repositioning my feet!" Raya argued. "It barely lasted five seconds."
Devon from the Ares Cabin had decided to stop by Camp this weekend, along with a few others who stopped coming every summer. He was giving lessons on how to use nun chucks, which Luke thought were wholly inappropriate.
Raya disagreed, considering Devon was teaching about twenty kids besides herself. He hadn't touched her in any way that was inappropriate, or made her uncomfortable. He taught her how to position her feet, and Luke lost his temper.
"Sure," he scoffed. "Or are you just covering for him? You liked that? You wanted—"
"Shut up!" Raya yelled. "You're being unreasonable. I don't know what the fuck has gotten into you, but you can come find me once you've figured your shit out."
Raya marched past the green, wiping her angry tears as she marched out into the forest.
She had no idea what was going on, but Luke had gotten a serious temper recently. He got annoyed at almost anything — Raya wasn't smiling back, or the sun was too bright, or Devon was trying to teach Raya to use nun chucks.
Raya had enough of it.
She walked past the trees, ignoring the dryads poking out of their trees to look at her. She made her way to the clearing where Zeus' Fist sat.
It was empty.
Raya dropped to the ground in front of the cluster of rocks, her mind thinking back to two years ago. When her and Luke were happier.
The quest had ruined everything for them.
She sat against the rocks, mourning what their relationship could've been.
"You guys are gonna play Capture the Flag?" Raya asked, looking at her siblings.
Normally, they stayed as Medic, but at the sight of Noor and Leila strapping up, Raya began to grab her own gear.
It'd been over a week since her argument with Luke. He found her the next day, apologizing and promising he'd work harder.
Raya let him back in.
She hated herself for how weak she was, but every time Luke was near, she just wanted to be in his embrace. She didn't want to face the world, and she felt like she could hide from everyone when she was in his arms.
She wasn't ready to lose that.
"Yeah, we're playing today," Noor answered. "But if you wanna be Medic, you can be Medic. Will and Elisha are gonna be helping out as Medic too."
Ricardo was gone this summer, leaving Noor and Leila as the co-counselors for the Apollo Cabin. They'd done a great job so far, but Raya still missed Ricardo's frantic yelling to restock the infirmary every other day. She'd have to Iris-Message him soon.
"I'll play as well," she said, strapping on some gear.
The Cabins were split up into two teams: Ares, Athena, and Hermes on one team. Hephaestus, Apollo, Aphrodite, Demeter, and Dionysus on the other team.
The Ares team had the upper hand, considering they were allied with Athena. But the Hermes kids tended to be a bit of a problem, rarely following the rules. That would work in favor of Raya's team.
The Hephaestus team had good archers, and nice powers. If they worked together, and managed to follow the plan, they'd win this.
"Blue team, follow me!" Astor, the Hephaestus Head Counselor, said.
The blue team cheered, following him to the edge of the lake. Raya adjusted the straps on Leila's armor, patting her as she fixed them.
"Here's the plan," Astor began. "Hephaestus has got portable traps on them. Use them to disable your opponent. "
The Hephaestus Cabin cheered.
"Apollo, I want you all in the trees," he continued. "Use your arrows, the sonic ones, laser ones, I don't even know which ones you have. Use them, and whatever else you've got to make sure no one crosses the lake."
"You got it," Noor nodded.
"Demeter, trip everyone up with roots, whatever you got. Get the dryads to help if you can," Astor turned to them.
The Cabin grinned, ready to take them on.
"Aphrodite, you're the runners," Astor said. "I've seen you guys in heels, you're fast. Keep a Hephaestus member nearby and get the damn flag, okay?!!"
The Blue Team cheered, Raya one of the loudest.
"Positions!" Astor called.
Raya chose a tree near the lake, climbing up it's branches to settle near the top. It gave her a good view of anyone crossing the lake, but hid her from their sight.
She was using a bow from the Apollo Cabin weapon room, only because she didn't have her own. She preferred fighting with knives, or even a sword. Hades, she'd take a staff over a bow.
She supposed it was kind of a disgrace, considering she was Apollo's kid and all, but she couldn't help it. It came too naturally to her. She liked fighting to become good at something.
Otherwise, it didn't feel like she earned it.
Raya heard shouting in the background — from her team and the other team. One of their decoy groups had been tagged.
Raya loaded a fart arrow in her bow, aiming it at the Red Team's side of the river.
A shout from her left let her know that Noor had taken down a group of demigods from the Red Team as they tried to cross over the river. Raya didn't take her eyes off her own area, hoping Noor would be able to use his powers and aim to finish them off.
The shouts ceased, replaced with grumbling as a group of kids retreated back to their side.
A shout from their right had Raya exchanging a nervous glance with Leila.
It was Astor.
He was meant to be guarding the flag, and if he was caught...
Raya jumped out of the tree, yelling to her sister, "Cover me!"
"You got it!" Leila called back, no doubt following her in the trees, arrows pointed at any opponents.
Raya threw her bow aside, switching for her knives. She moved from tree to tree, sneaking up on the flag base from behind.
Raya saw Luke and two kids from the Athena yanking the flag out of where they'd shoved it in the ground.
"Hey!" she shouted as she arrived.
One of the Athena kids yanked the flag out, shoving it in Luke's hand, and pushing their sibling away with him.
Raya hesitated, but the other boy — Jaiden — advanced with his sword. Raya dodged and parried, switching her knives for her sword 'Denebola' mid fight.
"Luke's got the flag!" she yelled out desperately, hoping someone would hear her.
Her surroundings faded to her as she ducked, dodged and parried. She was a better swordfighter, but Jaiden was a fast learner. He began to block her moves, anticipating her next one before she did herself.
Out of options, Raya rolled under his sword, switched for one of her knives, and threw them at him with all her might.
Jaiden grunted as her knife pierced his armor and shirt, pinning him to the tree trunk. He struggled, but the knife was buried hilt deep.
A minute later, Cia from Hephaestus returned with the Blue Team's flag.
"Luke?" Raya panted, checking up on Astor.
"Fart arrow," she said as a way of answer. "Made it back, though. How's Astor?"
Raya turned him over, seeing him turning a sickly pale. Worried, she pressed the back of her to his forehead, pulling back at the heat.
"Medic!" Raya called, slicing his armor away with one of her knives.
She pulled away the armor and his shirt, flinching at the wound on his side. It was an ugly shade of green, dark red blood oozing slowly out of it.
"What the hell is wrong with him?" Cia gasped, looking terrified.
"Poison," Raya answered, not even needing to double check. After brewing so many of them in Potions this year, she knew their side effects easily. "There was poison on the knife that stabbed him. Go grab a Medic. Ask for backup to guard the flag if you see anyone. Hurry!"
Cia ran, her frizzy hair disappearing as she searched for a Medic.
Raya ripped a piece of Astor's t-shirt, doing her best to clean the wound.
Cheers erupted from somewhere nearby, and judging by the fact that the Blue Team's flag was still behind Raya, they'd managed to steal the Red Team's.
"Raya!" Will came rushing out of the trees, lugging a giant first-aid kit. "What happened?"
"Nothing you need to worry about," Raya took the first-aid kit from him. "Go to Chiron and tell him I'm calling him. I need you to keep what you saw to yourself, can you do that?"
Will looked down at Astor's pale body, not responding.
"Can you do that?" Raya repeated.
Will flinched, "Yeah."
"What are you gonna do?" Raya asked.
"Get Chiron, no one else," Will said. "You're calling him. And don't tell anyone about Astor."
"That's right," Raya nodded. "Hurry. And go eat a brownie once you get back to Camp. I think you deserve it for being so brave."
Will looked more determined than any eight year old ever should. He nodded, running off to get Chiron.
"Astor, can you hear me?" Raya asked, pulling apart the first-aid kit as she looked for cloth and nectar. She cleaned his wound with water and then alcohol, finally using the godly drink. It was looking less green than before.
"Ugh," Astor groaned.
"Hey, hey, stay awake," she told him, searching through the kit for a bezoar. The poison was in his bloodstream, and she needed it to leave before it did any more damage. "I need you to talk to me. Can you talk to me?"
"About?" he muttered, barely audible over the noise of the campers still cheering.
"Anything," Raya said, finally finding one. "We won the game. How does that make you feel? There's a flag with the symbol of Hephaestus on it."
"We won?" he muttered, straining to speak. "It makes me feel like I'm gonna die."
"Not on my watch, Astor," she muttered. "I'm gonna need you to ingest this."
"Huh — Wh—"
Raya blocked his nose with two fingers, propping his mouth open and shoving a bezoar down his throat. Keeping one hand on his mouth, she waited a few seconds until he'd swallowed it.
"That's the — the nastiest thing I've ever had," he coughed, still pale.
"You'll be alright," Raya promised. "It was more of a precaution than anything. I'm gonna bandage you up, and then we'll move you to the infirmary. Got it?"
"Mhm," he muttered, clearly too winded to speak full sentences.
"Don't fall asleep, Astor," she muttered, cleaning his wound once again. She winced at the sight of the blood. It would need stitches, now.
"I'm not," he promised. "I'm just — really tired."
"I know, I know," Raya told him, securing a thread and needle. "But I need you to be awake. I need to stitch you up."
That got his attention. His hazel eyes flew open, "Stitch?"
"The cut's deep," Raya told him. "You're lucky it didn't hit any internal organs. Now hold still..."
Astor, thankfully, held still and didn't pass out during the stitches. Chiron arrived as Raya finished the last one.
"Oh dear," he muttered at the sight of Astor, pale and half-dead.
"Poison on the blade," Raya said. "Foul play from the campers or someone else. I've shoved a bezoar down his throat, it should suck up any remaining poison. His wound's been cleaned and stitched. I'm just bandaging him up. I want to check up on him tomorrow morning, maybe stick another bezoar down his food tube. For now, he's alright."
Chiron seemed impressed at Raya's handle on the situation.
So did Astor, "You're the best."
"Thank you for not passing out on me," Raya patted his shoulder as she finished tying up the bandage. "It's one of the reasons I managed to stay calm."
"I'm the best," he muttered drowsily.
"Did you see anything?" Chiron asked as they placed Astor on the infirmary beds.
None of the other campers were told what had happened. All they knew what that Astor had been injured. Chiron thought it was best to leave out the poison.
"I ran over when I heard him shout," Raya told him. "He was supposed to be guarding the flag, so I thought someone had caught up to him. When I arrived..."
"Yes," Chiron prompted.
Raya hesitated, not wanting to put any suspicion on any of the Campers. It couldn't be them.
"I saw a few campers running away with the flag," she said. "I didn't see anyone attack Astor, and I don't think those campers even noticed Astor. He was hidden from most people's, crumpled on the ground. They probably just thought it was an easy win."
Chiron looked troubled, but didn't press the matter. "You can check on him tomorrow morning. But you mustn't tell anyone about what happened. If we have campers willing to hurt other campers..."
"It wasn't a camper," Raya insisted, even though the plea sounded weak to her own ears.
"Of course not," Chiron agreed, sensing her worry. "But we will have to put tighter security on Capture the Flag games. Perhaps Argus would be interested..."
Raya watched Chiron walk away, still planning tighter security measures for the games.
Raya could've sworn she could hear the voice laughing.
REY WRITES!
thanks for reading!!
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