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chapter six
I SLAM LUKE'S FASHION SENSE
SEN
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Sen woke up to someone sitting by her bedside- a tall boy with dark, curly hair, and a large scar running from the corner of his eye to his jawline. He smiled softly at her and waved.
"Afternoon. Sleep good?"
Sen sat up, frowning as he hair fell around her shoulders. She looked around the room, not seeing anyone else. "Where am I?"
"Girls' infirmary ward," the boy said. "You woke up pretty fast. Your friend is still passed out."
Sen blinked at this boy. He looked a little older than her- maybe around seventeen or so. "Who are you?"
"I'm Luke," he said, extending his hand.
Sen stared at his hand, slowly shaking it. "I'm Sen. Where am I? Not- Not the infirmary. I mean where."
"Camp Half-Blood," Luke answered. "Long Island Sound."
"Long Island?" Sen suddenly remembered the Minotaur. She reached her hand under her blankets and felt her leg, finding not so much as a bruise. "Wha-"
"Our healers are pretty impressive," Luke said, a small smile on his face. "Running around on a fractured leg is more impressive, though. You sure you're new to this?"
"This." Sen stared at Luke. "The... the demigod thing?"
Luke nodded. "Yep. I'm guessing that came as quite a shock to you."
"What god?" Sen said.
Luke sighed deeply, resting his hands on his knees. "Well, that's the thing. Here at Camp, you... Well, we have to figure it out later on. Sometimes, you'll display certain powers or skills. Your godly parent might even claim you. We can't know right now, though, but we can usually narrow it down. Is your mortal parent your mom or your dad?"
Sen frowned. "I don't have any parents. I live with my foster parents, Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez."
"Ah," Luke said, looking down. "Unfortunately, you're not the only one without any parents."
"You don't have any?"
"Not anymore," Luke answered, his voice taking on a sad tone.
"Oh." Sen looked at her lap. "Sorry for asking."
"It's cool. You're just curious. Think you might be ready to get up and take a look around?" Luke suggested, tilting his head.
Sen stared at him. "I only have pajamas."
"No problem," Luke said. He pointed to the bedside table, where a lump of clothes were waiting. "We wouldn't just leave you here with no clothes, Sen."
Sen grabbed the clothes, and instantly wrinkled her nose. "I am not wearing that!"
Luke stared at her in shock. "I- Huh?"
"Are you kidding me?" Sen held up the shirt. "This shade of orange is awful. It makes me look washed out, it clashes with my eyes, it'll make my braces and teeth look crazy yellow, and- What the- Luke, what sizing is this?!" She held the shirt up. "That thing's gonna go down to my knees! How come when you people made these shirts, you made them longer as you size up instead of wider? Some of us need a size large because we are chubby. And some of us chubs are not tall and chubby, we are short and chubby." For added effect, she balled up the shirt and tossed it up to Luke, who caught it. He blinked in surprise as he looked down at his own shirt, realizing Sen was right- for some reason, the shirts were narrow and long the bigger they got. At that point, Sen should just put on a dress.
Luke just held up the shirt. "Ooooo...kay? I mean, I might be able to get something else..."
"I will wear any shirt, no matter how big, if it was not so violently orange. The shirt would not be a big deal in any other color, but why neon orange?! Nobody looks good in neon orange."
Luke looked down at his neon orange shirt again and raised an eyebrow, though Sen didn't tell him anything different. She just pursed her lips and crossed her arms.
Luke didn't seem to know if he should be offended or not. "I- Okay. You fight a Minotaur, but throw a fit over neon orange?"
"I have standards," Sen said blankly.
To her surprise, Luke just smiled. "Fine. Let me go grab something else."
Luke returned a few minutes later and held up a random teal t-shirt, waiting for approval. It was a little big, but Sen didn't care. Anything but neon orange. She smiled and nodded, which pleased Luke as he handed it to her.
"Nice to know your feelings about neon orange," Luke said. "The other stuff is fine?"
"Yep," Sen said, grabbing the denim shorts. "Anything but neon orange."
"What about neon yellow?"
"Neon yellow looks good with my blue braces," Sen said. "Not neon orange. Neon orange is just- blech."
Luke rolled his eyes and left the room. "Whatever. You're a little weird."
"I get told that a lot."
Sen quickly got changed and used a hairtie to tie off the end of the teal shirt, though the sleeves still fell to her elbows. She found her old shoes in the corner. The pink converse had been cleaned and smelled fresh, which was unusual, since they had been disgusting since she was eleven. When most people looked at her shoes in the past, they didn't even know they were pink. Now, they looked like the day she got them.
Sen opened the door and found Luke leaning on the wall, his hands shoved in his pockets. "Ready?"
Sen closed the door behind her. "Can I see Percy first?"
"He's still asleep," Luke said, "so make it quick."
He led her to a different room and Sen peeked in, finding Percy still dead asleep on the bed. She ran in and looked over him, making sure he wasn't hurt or anything. On the other end of the room, she saw the Minotaur horn, just enforcing the fact that it had been real.
Sen leaned over and pecked his cheek. "I'm gonna come back, okay?"
Percy shifted slightly in his sleep, his breathing a little softer.
Sen left the room and closed it silently behind her before looking up at Luke, who happened to be much taller than her. "Okay. I'm ready."
"You guys been friends for a long time?" Luke asked, leading Sen out of the infirmary.
Sen nodded. "We met when we were seven, and we've been best friends ever since."
"You're lucky you found each other," Luke admitted. "Most of the time, when demigods are alone, they have a really bad time."
"We had a pretty bad time," Sen said. "We get bullied a lot."
"Yeah?"
Sen nodded. "I'm chubby, we're both dorky, Percy usually befriends 'weird kids'. It got pretty bad in middle school, though, since I got braces and Percy started fighting back a lot more."
"That's about the age most demigods begin to realize what they are," Luke explained. "Weird things have probably happened to you in the past year or two, right?"
Sen nodded uncomfortably. "Yeah... My dog spoke to me."
"Your dog?" Luke said, leading Sen down the shore.
She suddenly turned to look at the green water, the shore beneath her feet, the breeze coming in. "I had a dream here. This is the exact spot my dog... Well, he's not my dog. He lives next to me. But, this is where he spoke to me. He told me I had to leave and go find Percy, or bad things would happen."
Luke parked himself next to Sen. "Most demigods have strange dreams, so don't worry about that. Frankly, it sounds like that wasn't really your dog."
"Hmm?"
"Sometimes, the gods send certain guides to demigods," Luke explained. "Little hints to steer them in the right direction. Sometimes, the gods even disguise themselves."
"That's weird," Sen frowned. "Why would Gordo be a god?"
Luke snorted. "Gordo?"
"He's a big fatty," Sen said, holding her hands out. "A real big fatty. He got fatter the longer I known him, though."
"How fat?"
"Well, he's a golden retriever," Sen explained, "so he's already quite big. But he really likes baguette, so... quite fat."
Luke narrowed his eyes. "Sounds like you made him fat."
"I didn't! I tried walking, I tried talk therapy, I tried dieting, I even tried to lose weight with him to encourage him! Damn dog just really likes carbs," Sen grumbled, which made Luke laugh. "You ever heard of obese dogs speaking in your mind?"
"Nope," Luke admitted. "However, every demigod has a different experience, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. One way or another, Gordo helped get you here."
Sen turned around, gazing at the canoes on the shore and the walkway leading further into the woods. "So... this is like a summer camp?"
"Sort of," Luke said. "Most demigods come here every summer to seek refuge, but some of us live here permanently."
"How do you sort it out?" Sen asked, looking up at Luke. "Is it like... by age? Or by gender?"
Luke laughed softly and shook his head. "Um... not quite. We sort things out into twelve cabins, one for each Olympian god. You know, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Demeter..."
Sen squinted. "Where are you?"
"Hermes," Luke said. "Cabin eleven."
"That means you are a son of Hermes?"
Luke nodded. "I am. However, Hermes is the patron god of travelers. Therefore, we house all demigods- children of Hermes, and the unclaimed. If you're claimed by a different god, you move into their cabin. Otherwise, you stay in eleven."
Sen frowned. "So, how many people are unclaimed?"
Luke's jaw tightened. "Too many, Sen. Too many." Sen turned away. "Follow me. I'll show you the cabins."
Sen followed Luke, eyeing things down curiously. "So, like, all of these people are half-bloods?"
"Yep," Luke said. "You've read Greek Mythology before, I assume?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Then you know that the gods have a lot of children," Luke admitted. Sen kept close to him, uneasy around so many new people. "Some have more than others. Aphrodite, for example, has a ton of kids. Demeter? Not so much. But, everyone has a place at Camp Half-Blood. Everyone has certain skills, certain attributes, and you'll find your people soon enough, even if you don't get claimed."
He stopped and turned to Sen. "So. Anything you think you're really good at?"
Sen blinked. "Like... what?"
"Are you a good fighter?"
When Sen fought (not that she fought! Totally no fighting!) she mostly thrashed and blindly whacked around. "I mean... I never got tons of injuries."
"Well, most demigods are decent at fighting," Luke admitted. "At the very least, we can get out of a rough spot. What about growing plants?"
"I have lots of plants," Sen admitted. "I talk to them and get the bees and butterflies to help, but it doesn't always work out. I can't keep succulents alive for some reason... What does plants have to do with anything?"
"Demeter, goddess of agriculture," Luke explained. "Her kids are crazy good at growing plants and working with nature. Maybe you can get along with them. What other skills do you have?"
Sen blinked. "I have the entire choreography of Single Ladies memorized."
Luke blinked. "Alright."
Sen stared at him blankly. "And won my neighborhood's pie-eating contest for five years in a row. Except pecan pie." She paused. "But I excel at apple."
"Let's go look at the cabins, okay?" Luke said, putting a hand on Sen's shoulder to steer her forward. Sen snickered, knowing Luke probably found her weird, but he was still being really nice to her.
He led her forward, to a massive section in the camp where there were twelve massive cabins and various sculptures littered around. Sen's eyes widened in shock as Luke pointed to the eleventh one, which looked older and more cabin-like, though it had a caduceus on the front. Inside, there were a ton of campers screaming and messing around.
Luke led her up the steps. Inside, there were bunks crammed together and a few bedrolls on the ground. In the middle, Sen saw a small campfire, where a group of girls were huddled around and whispering.
Luke opened his mouth, but Sen immediately whispered, "Don't introduce me."
Luke looked down at her. "What? Why not?"
"No attention," Sen mumbled. "Where am I supposed to sleep?"
"Here." Luke jogged forward, leading Sen to a small pink bedroll. Nothing else was even on it. "We'll get you a bunk if you're gonna be here indefinitely, but if you get claimed soon, there's no point. Especially since every other cabin has more room."
"Yo, Luke!" Another boy ran forward, his skin a little darker than Luke's. He had curly hair and large, brown eyes. He turned to Sen and smiled. "Hey! Nice to meet you. I'm Chris."
He extended his hand. Sen stared at it before shaking it. "I'm Sen."
"Unclaimed?"
"I guess," Sen mumbled, dropping Chris's hand. She did not like how clammy it was.
Chris stared at her. "Where's your camp shirt?" Luke held back a laugh and put his fist over his mouth. "What's so funny?"
Luke smiled at Sen, though he said to Chris, "Sen doesn't think anyone looks good in neon orange, and it clashes with her braces, and it makes her look washed out."
Sen crossed her arms. "I do not dig neon orange."
Chris snorted. "Okay. You might be unclaimed, but probably not for long."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Why'd you give her your old shirt, though?" Chris asked. Sen blushed in horror as Luke just shrugged.
"She wanted a new shirt. I grabbed her a new shirt."
"Cabin ten is literally next door." Sen tilted her head, and Chris said, "Cabin ten is Aphrodite. They have enough clothes in there to dress the entire city of Los Angeles."
Sen rocked on her feet. "Are you also a son of Hermes?"
"Yep," Chris said. "We're both sons of Hermes."
"What are your... skills?" Sen asked. "Luke says everyone has them."
"Well, some of us have less um... less cool skills than others," Chris said. He turned to Luke and clapped his half-brother on the back. "Luke, however, is the best swordsman in three hundred years!"
Luke rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
"You should totally see him, Sen," Chris said. "He's like a beast."
"Swordsman?" Sen perked up. "You're a sword fighter?"
"Yep," Luke said. "Eventually, I'll take you to the arena, maybe help you with your training. All of us learn how to fight at least a little. Comes in handy when you're fighting monsters or playing capture the flag. And, seeing as you helped fight the Minotaur, I bet you're good at it."
Sen frowned. "I'm not good at using a sword. I was just loud and threw stuff at it."
"Never know until you try it," Luke insisted. "Always keep your chin up, Sen."
"I bet you're a good fighter," Chris said gently. "You can't survive a Minotaur by sheer luck."
Sen blinked. "You can do a lot of things due to sheer luck." She pointed at Luke's chest. "What's that?"
He looked down and saw her pointing at his clay beads. "Oh. Each campers gets a leather cord. At the end of every summer, you get a new bead to signify how many years you've been here. I guess I should've mentioned that."
"Yes, you should have," Sen frowned. "I left the cord in the infirmary 'cause I thought it was there on accident."
"Sassy!" Chris said. "You seem fun, Sen. How old are you?"
"Twelve," Sen grumbled. "Thirteen at the end of June."
"Oh, wow. I thought you were younger than that." Sen ran her tongue on the braces. She felt like they made her look much younger than she really was, coupled with her shortness. "What else has Luke shown you?"
"Not much," Sen said. "I only woke up a few minutes ago."
"I was planning to show the arena next," Luke said, "and maybe the archery station."
Chris winced. "You wanna start training now?"
Luke shook his head. "No. But, she can't get jumpscared when we do start training."
Sen looked down at her bedroll. "We can start training today."
Luke stared at her. "Pardon?"
"Well, I don't have any other plans," Sen said. "Percy won't wake up until tomorrow, I don't have any other friends, and I don't like doing things alone."
Luke smiled a bit. "How do you know Percy won't wake up until tomorrow?"
"A gut feeling," Sen said. "I'm usually right about these things." She turned away from her bedroll and stared at Luke. "Maybe I can surprise him or something."
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"What's that?" Sen asked Luke, pointing at a strange, moving tree.
Luke smiled. "She's a dryad, a- a forest spirit."
"She's pretty," Sen said fondly as the dryad waved at her.
"They usually are," Luke said. "Dryads, nymphs, naiads- they're usually pretty attractive. Don't fall for one, though. She's probably three hundred years old, and has a three hundred more to give."
"Fall for one?" Sen gasped. She stopped momentarily, but Luke didn't, so she had to jog to catch up to him. "Do people have crushes on dryads a lot?"
"Oh, definitely," Luke said. "Nature spirits are crazy flirts, crazy cute, and that combination will make anyone think they're in love. Naiads are the worst, though. Do not let a naiad make you blush. Usually, nature spirits tend to hook up with satyrs, since they also have long lifespans and a special appreciation for nature."
"Long lifespans?" Sen suddenly gasped. "Hey, is Grover actually twenty-four?!"
"Yep," Luke said truthfully. "Satyrs age about half as fast as humans. Even though Grover is twenty-four, he looks and behaves like he's about twelve, though he has the experience of a twenty-four-year-old. Similarly, a satyr might be fifty, and have fifty years of experiences, but he'll look and act like he's twenty-five."
"Wow. I can't imagine having an extended time of the Terrible Twos."
Luke laughed. "Yeah, satyr toddlers are not to be messed with. Luckily, their mothers have a warped sense of time. I mean, a tree can live for a really long time, so to a tree, two years isn't a whole lot."
"Ah," Sen admitted, following Luke into the arena. "Makes sense, I guess. Do nature spirits ever have children with mortals?"
"Mm, dryads... not so much," Luke said. "But, nymphs, Nereids, and naiads do. It's pretty rare, and the aura of the half-blood is very weak, so they go undetected, but it has happened before. Thetis was a sea nymph- one of the fifty Nereids- and she had her son, Achilles, with King Peleus."
Sen looked around the arena in shock. It was huge, with rows of seats and a massive clearing to train in. There were a few people there, mostly in the seats just chit-chatting. Sen felt a little embarrassed to be in the arena.
Luke suddenly stopped, making the distracted Sen bump into him. She stumbled and brushed her hair aside before peeking around him, seeing two people already occupying the arena.
She watched in amazement as two figures darted around, their weapons clashing together with blazing speed and ferocity. They were both armored up, had shields and spears, and attacked each other relentlessly. Sen gaped as the shorter one knocked the other one down and aimed the tip of their spear at their opponent's neck.
Luke clapped his hands. "Game!"
The winner looked at him and quickly removed their helmet, letting her dark curls flow down. Sen gasped as she realized the winner was female, and the loser was male. The girl had an impressive physique, but more startlingly, she was strangely beautiful, with angled eyebrows, thick lips, high cheekbones, and dark eyes that blazed with pride. She dropped her shield and spear and approached Luke, her shoulders squared off as she stopped in front of him.
She stared at him a minute, her chin held high, before she finally seemed to notice Sen. Sen stared at her, trying to fight how uncomfortable she was by the girl's inquisitive look.
She said, "And who are you?"
"This is Sen," Luke said, putting a hand on Sen's shoulder. "She's new here. Just woke up an hour ago." He looked down at Sen and gestured to the other girl. "This is Clarisse."
Sen stared at Clarisse. "Hi."
Clarisse smirked. "So, you're the little girl who was outside the camp, right?"
Sen frowned. "I'm not a little girl."
"Right," Clarisse said, looking Sen up and down, making the shorter girl feel disgusting in her own skin. She turned to Luke and asked, "Claimed?"
"No," Luke said.
"And why are the two of you here?" Clarisse demanded.
I am going to piss myself. "I asked Luke to train me."
Clarisse ended up laughing. "Train you? Really?"
"Clarisse, cut it out," Luke sighed. "It's her first time."
"Yeah, usually, when children arrive, the first thing they do is cry about their mommy or go to the arts and crafts tent," Clarisse sneered.
Sen snapped, "Well maybe you cried for your mommy or played with pencils, but I want to learn how to fight."
Oh crap. Sen could already tell her mouth was going to get her in a bad situation by the end of the day.
Clarisse raised her eyebrows and tilted her head before leaning forward. Sen felt her heart racing, but refused to back down. "You might want to watch yourself when you're talking to me. I might bite." On the final word, she jolted forward. Sen forward herself not to flinch as she stared down Clarisse, her eyebrows set.
Sen shrugged. "Then bite."
She saw Luke stiffen as he watched the interaction. Clarisse stood up straight, being significantly taller than Sen was. Would Sen win a fight? No. Would Sen win a race? No. Would Sen win anything other than a pie-eating contest? Probably not. But she would not back down. She was so tired of being bullied all her life. She didn't need some other half-god girl to bully her. Not anymore. If Sen could survive the Minotaur- even by sheer luck- then maybe her luck would make Clarisse decide not to kill her.
Clarisse nodded. "Okay. Just not when you expect it."
She shouldered past Sen, knocking the younger girl straight into Luke's chest, and she stormed out of the arena.
Sen backed away from Luke and took deep breath. "Dear God, she's scary."
Luke smiled and buddy-punched Sen. "You did damn good, Sen. Everyone else freaks out around Clarisse."
"I am freaking out!" Sen panted, putting her hand on her chest. "I nearly pissed myself!"
"But you didn't back down," Luke said, pointing at her. "That's what counts. It's crazy important to be brave in the face of danger, to not show your fear. We need more of that."
"She should be incarcerated!"
Luke shrugged. "Maybe. She's an Ares kid, though. They come by it naturally."
"Ares?! You got war-kids running around this place?!"
"Hey, don't worry," Luke said sincerely. "Who knows? You're crazy brave. Maybe you're an Ares kid."
Sen frowned. "Don't play with me, Luke."
Luke rolled his eyes. "Whatever. You still feel like training?"
"You won't make me piss myself out of fear, right?"
"Depends how scared you get," Luke shrugged. "I'll go easy on you. How about that?"
"No! I can't learn if people go easy on me."
"Fine. It's your coffin, though."
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stop luke is so cute in the new series how am i supposed to hate someone played by charlie bushnell AND CLARISSE IS HOT WHAT THE HELL
also do we like what im doing with luke
i like what im doing with luke
i really like what im doing with luke >:)