Everyone trickled out of the rec room. As I was walking out, Percy grabbed a hold of my arm and held me back. I turned to look at him in confusion. His eyes pleaded for me to stay.
"You okay?" I asked softly.
"I don't know what to think right now." Percy said. He licked his lips and ran a hair through his black hair. "It's been a crazy day."
I frowned and stepped towards him. Percy gravitated to me, peering down at me from his tall height. I wrapped my arms around him and brought him into a hug. He immediately melted into my embrace. Percy placed his forehead on my shoulder as he took shaky breaths.
"Did you know?" Percy uttered. He had his arms circled around my waist. "About the prophecy?"
"No." I slightly shook my head and placed my chin on his shoulder. "My dad refused to let me know about it."
"And about the...about the whole summer thing, too?"
"They did tell me about it. And I agreed." I admitted. He pulled away and looked at me with furrowed brows. I gave him a soft smile and cupped his cheek with one hand. "You've been overworking yourself with training, fighting, and the plan. And you said you felt like you needed a break and to have some normal, even if it meant hanging with Rachel-"
"You know she's just a friend right?" Percy said quickly. There was a slight panic in his sea green eyes. "I've friend zoned her, like, a lot. I promise nothing is going on between us. All I want is you. Promise."
"I trust you." I blushed with a nod.
"Good, because I don't think I'll be able to survive if my Vine Girl is angry with me." Percy's lips curved into a playful smile.
"Then you better not get me angry Shark Boy." I hummed out with a smile.
"Talking about not getting you angry." Percy sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Rachel invited me to join her family to go on vacation."
"Oh." My voice turned bitter.
"I turned her down though." Percy quickly stated, wincing at how his last sentence sounded. "I would rather be with you."
"I don't vacation, Percy." I raised a brow. "I'm stuck here at camp unless I have a quest or a raid to do. I don't even know where I'm going once I turn 18."
"I would still rather be here with you. I'd go wherever you go." Percy laced our fingers together.
I stared at our joined hands. A frown settled on my face. I couldn't give him things compared to what Rachel could. She has the money. She's been around the world. She lives in the mortal world. I'm stuck at camp. I have no money. I'm from the demigod world where I fight to live. I have no idea if I'll live to be 18 or if by some miracle I do, where I would go.
"Yeah...okay." I mumbled.
Percy frowned at my response. He could tell I was down. He studied my face, his sea green eyes scanning every blemish and freckle I had. His head tilted to the side as the corner of his lips tugged into a smile.
"Did you do something different with your hair?" Percy reached out and twirled a lock of my hair with interest.
"Yeah." I softly said. "Silena and Drew did it earlier today while we wait for you and Beckondorf to...to come back. It was driving us insane to wait for you guys."
"It looks good." Percy hummed out, fighting a frown.
"Thanks." I told him halfheartedly. He glanced at me and cupped my cheek. His brows furrowed together. "I thought I almost lost you today. With how long you guys... you were taking to come back-"
"Hey." Percy pulled me into another hug. I wrapped my arms around him and placed my cheek against his chest. Percy placed his chin on the top of my head. "I will always come back to you. Okay? No one can ever keep me away from you. No one."
"I don't want to lose you." I choked out, thinking about the prophecy and the possibility of him dying. "I can't lose you. Not again."
"I'm not leaving you." Percy promised. "They can't make me leave you."
I gave a nod and tightened my hold on him. I didn't want to let him go. He just got back to me. Percy pressed his lips to the crown of my head. I sighed, any tension in my shoulders leaving.
"Why don't you go ahead and go to bed early? You need rest." I suggested. "You had a long day."
"Yeah, okay." Percy gave a small nod and reluctantly pulled away from me. His eyes were starting to droop and he looked tired."What are you doing tomorrow morning?"
"I'm inspecting cabins tomorrow after breakfast. I switched with Annabeth since she wanted to look over some stuff on her laptop for battle strategies." I said.
"I'll help." Percy offered. "I have to go through some reports for Chiron."
"All right." I smiled softly, standing on my tip toes to peck his cheek. "Goodnight."
"I think I need a better goodnight than that." Percy smirked, peering down at me.
I shrugged, fighting a smile. Percy raised a brow. With a chuckle, I kissed the corner of his mouth and backed away with a giddy grin. He looked at me dumbfounded.
"Goodnight, Percy." I backed away quickly and left the room before he could bring me back.
"Hey!"
🍇
I was walked the camp grounds with the inspection scroll in my hand. Percy was walking with me since he had to do the reports. To make it easier on the both of us we did them together. We started with Percy's cabin. His bed was messily made and there was some clothes laying around. Percy winced when he saw the state of his room.
"Four out of five?" Percy suggested.
"You're being way too generous to yourself." I raised a brow and picked up a pair of old running shorts with the end of my pencil.
"Hey," Percy snatched them away, "give me a break. I don't have Tyson cleaning up after me this summer."
"You don't need your brother to clean up after you. Three out of five." I told him, marking a three out of five next to his cabin's number.
"Fine." Percy dramatically released a sigh and threw his shorts on his bed. He started to skim through the stack of reports as we walked out of his cabin. His eyebrows would crease together as he read some of them. "This is just depressing."
"What are they mostly saying?" I asked as we headed towards the Aphrodite cabin.
"Little battles are everywhere. Camp recruitment is super low." Percy frowned as he flipped through the papers. "Satyrs are having trouble finding demigods to bring to camp due to the high rates of monsters roaming the country. Thalia hasn't been in contact with us for a few months."
"Yeah, Annabeth tried Iris-messaging her the other day." I told him. "Before it could even show anything the connection was lost. Annie said it looked like there was a fight going on."
"Probably fighting all of those monsters." Percy stated.
We entered the Aphrodite cabin. The beds were perfectly made (and put the way Percy made his bed to shame). The clothes at everyone's footlockers were color coordinated. Fresh flowers looked on the windowsills. I gave them a five out of five.
"You should dock them a point for how strong their designer perfumes reek." Percy leaned over to whisper to me.
"No." I looked up at him and gave him a look. He only responded with a grin. With a shake of my head, I turned towards Silena. "Great job as usual, Silena."
Silena nodded listlessly. The wall behind her bed was decorated with pictures of Beckondorf. My heart clenched at the reminder that he was gone. Silena sat on her bunk with a box of chocolates on her lap. I remember her telling me a few years back that her dad owned a chocolate store in the Village and that was how he caught her mom's attention.
"You want a bonbon?" Silena asked. "My dad sent them. He thought -he thought they might cheer me up."
"Are they good?" Percy asked.
"They taste like cardboard." She shook her head.
Percy ended up trying one. I wasn't really in the mood for chocolate, so I declined. We promised to see her later and kept going. Percy later mentioned that it did indeed taste like cardboard.
As we crossed the commons area, a fight broke out between the Ares and Apollo cabins. Some Apollo campers armed with firebombs flew over the Ares cabin in a chariot pulled by two pegasi. The roof of the Ares cabin was now burning, and naiads from the canoe lake rushed over to blow water on it.
Then the Ares campers called down a curse, and all the Apollo kids' arrows turned to rubber. The Apollo kids kept shooting at the Ares kids, but the arrows bounced off.
"Curse me, eh? I'll make you pay! / I don't want to rhyme all day!" An angry Ares kid, Oliver, chased after two Apollo archers, Brittany and Noah.
"Not that again." I sighed. "Last time Apollo cursed a cabin, it took a week for the rhyming couplets to wear off."
Percy shuddered.
"What are they fighting about anyway?" Percy asked.
I scored both cabins one out of five. I shook my head at them. With Clarisse protesting and Michael saying that his cabin earned the full rights, they weren't really helping the situation between their cabin mates. It's becoming a headache for the rest of the camp. I could feel him staring at me, waiting for me to reply.
"That flying chariot." I pointed the to one flying back towards the Apollo cabin.
"What?" Percy asked as he snapped out of a daze.
"You asked what they were fighting about." I turned to face him with furrowed brows.
"Oh. Oh, right." Percy nodded.
"They captured it in a raid in Philadelphia last week. Some of Luke's demigods were there with that flying chariot. The Apollo cabin seized it during the battle, but the Ares cabin led the raid. So they've been fighting about who gets it ever since."
Percy placed a hand on my shoulder as we ducked. The chariot dive-bombed an Ares camper. The Ares camper tried to stab him and cuss him out in rhyming couplets. I raised an impressed brow with his creative use of rhyming the cuss words.
"We're fighting for our lives," Percy said, "and they're bickering about some stupid chariot."
"I'm hoping they'll be over it by tomorrow." I sighed. "Annabeth says they'll be over it and Clarisse will come to her senses."
Percy didn't seem so sure about it. He scanned more reports as we inspected a few more cabins. Demeter got a four. Hephaestus got a three and probably should've gotten lower, but with Beckondorf being gone and all, we cut them some slack. Hermes got a two, no surprise there with how packed they are with the unclaimed living there.
We finally got to Athena's cabin. Books were straightened on the shelves. The armor was polished. Battle maps and blueprints decorated the walls. Only Annabeth's bunk was messy. It was covered in papers as she sat in her bed with her silver laptop in her lap. She looked up at us.
"Vlacas." Annabeth muttered, calling herself an idiot in Greek. "I forgot that was today."
"Yeah, um...we cleaned everything else." Malcom, her brother, stated. "You were in the zone and locked into whatever you were doing."
That was probably the smartest thing to do when it came to Annabeth. She had a bronze knife that she reserved for monsters, people who messed with her stuff, and anyone who bothered her when she's in the thinking zone.
"We'll wait outside while you guys finish inspection." Malcom said as he and the other Athena kids walked out.
Annabeth started to clean up her bunk a little bit. She kept muttering under her breath. Percy continued to go through his reports. I marked the cabin a four out of five. Annabeth closed her laptop.
"So, any good info from that thing?" Percy pointed to the laptop.
"Too much." Annabeth said. "Daedalus had so many ideas, I could spend fifty years just trying to figure them all out."
"Yeah." Percy muttered. "That would be fun."
"For Annabeth." I added, a smirk playing on my lips.
Annabeth rolled her eyes at me, fighting a smile. Percy chuckled and nodded in agreement. She shuffled her papers-mostly drawings of buildings and a bunch of handwritten notes.
"Is everything cool with your family?" Percy questioned.
"My dad wanted to take me to Greece this summer." Annabeth said wistfully. "I've always wanted to see-"
"The Parthenon." Percy and I finished her sentence together.
"Yeah." Annabeth breathed out a chuckle.
"That's okay." Percy told her. "There'll be other summers, right?"
I frowned at his sentence. The prophecy. Within a week, Olympus might fall. Depending if Olympus fell determined if there will even be anymore summers.
"Give me a three out of five, Ives." Annabeth nodded toward the inspection scroll I had. "For being a sloppy head counselor."
"I already gave you a four out of five." I shrugged. I turned to Percy and the stack of reports he had. "We just need to check my cabin and then get back to Chiron. You can finish your reports on the way."
Annabeth joined us as we started to make our way to my cabin. Percy was almost done with the reports. As we were about to enter my cabin, Seth had waved at Annabeth. A smile grew on her face.
"I'll be right back. I have to tell Seth something." Before we could say a word, she jogged over to him.
"I swear that guy likes her." Percy noted.
"I'm pretty sure Annabeth likes him, too." I told him, entering my cabin.
The smell of grapes hit my nose and a smile grew on my face. Pollux was chilling on the couch with a book of mock tails in his hands. He glanced up and waved. I quickly scanned the cabin to rate the neatness. The beds were made neatly. The clothes were in the footlockers arranged by sleeve length while the shorts and jeans were folded. I was about to mark us a five out of five when I saw the cups messily spread out on the counter instead of the dispenser. Four out of five.
"I always forget you guys have your own personal soda fountain." Percy said, making his way to serve himself a cup. "You guys need to add Big Blue to this. Just saying."
"I'll make sure to request it to my Dad." I raised a brow at him.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Pollux set the book on the coffee table. He gave me a grin and walked out. I gave him a pleading look, knowing it was against the camp rules for two campers to be alone in a cabin. He only gave me a peace sign and walked out. Percy was too busy pouring himself a cup of Coke- Cola with the crushed ice to see.
Dad's going to kill me.
"So, I was thinking..." Percy turned around and took a sip from his drink. His eyes widened when he noticed my brother left. I could feel my cheeks heat up. "Oh. Uh..."
"You almost done with your reports?" I hugged the inspection scroll to my chest.
"Yes. Yeah." Percy quickly nodded. "Almost. In fact, uh, I can finish it on the way back to Chiron."
"Awesome. Great." I gave him a smile. "Let's go find Annabeth and head that way."
"Great idea. Let's go." Percy's cheeks started to tint a little red.
The both of us exited out of my cabin. I could see Pollux snickering at us while he talked with Marie, a child of Hermes. Annabeth and Seth were fighting back smiles as they took in our red faces. She gave him a wave goodbye and came back to our side.
"You two okay? You're looking a bit red." Annabeth teased.
"Shut up." We both muttered, making our blush darken.
The three of us started to make our way to the Big House. Percy had handed me his drink, making Annabeth take the scroll from my hands. She rolled her eyes at him as he flipped through the report. He was now on his last one.
"'Dear Grover'," Percy read aloud, "'woods outside Toronto area led by giant evil badger. Tried to do as you suggested and summon power of Pan. No effect. Many naiads' trees destroyed. Retreating to Ottawa. Please advise. Where are you? - Gleeson Hedge, protector'."
"You haven't heard anything from him?" Annabeth grimaced. "Even with your empathy link?"
Percy shook his head dejectedly. It was silent after that. I took a sip from the Coke wishing it was root beer instead. Percy did a double take when he saw that I was drinking from his cup. He only shook his head.
"Annabeth." Percy spoke up as we neared the tetherball court. He looked uneasy. "Listen, I had this dream about, um, Rachel..."
So now he's having dreams about Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Bitterness and jealousy swirled in my gut. I scowled at her name and drank more Coke. Percy side eyed me as he explained his dream.
He told us about how Rachel painted a few pictures and one was a weird picture of Luke as a child. By the end of his explanation, I finished his drink. For a while, Annabeth didn't say anything after he finished. Then she rolled up the inspection scroll so tight she ripped it.
"What do you want me to say?"
I walked over to the nearest trash can and threw away the cup. Annabeth and Percy stared me down until I came back.
"I'm not sure." Percy said, raising a brow at me. I crossed my arms beside him. "You're the best strategist I know. If you were Kronos planning this war, what would you do next?"
"I'd use Typhon as a distraction. Then I'd hit Olympus directly, while the gods were in the West." Annabeth told him.
"Just like in Rachel's picture."
"Don't give her too much credit." I grumbled, kicking my foot at the grass.
"Percy," Annabeth said with a tight voice, "Rachel is just a mortal."
"But what if her dream is true? Those other Titans-they said Olympus would be destroyed in a matter of days. They said they had plenty of other challenges. And what's with that picture of Luke as a kid-"
"We'll just have to be ready." Annabeth cut him off.
"How?" Percy said. "Look at our camp. We can't even stop fighting each other. And I'm supposed to get my stupid soul reaped."
"Stop bringing that up so casually." I exasperated, throwing my hands up. My heart clenched and anger swelled in my chest. I jabbed a finger at his chest. "Stop thinking that your death is set in stone!"
Percy looked at me with wide eyes. I could feel my eyes stinging with hot tears. Annabeth crossed her arms beside me.
"Woah, Vine Girl-"
"Prophecies have double meanings. And I refuse to believe that Aphrodite promised us two to be soulmates only for it to be a- some sort of tragedy." My chest heaved as I tried to fight the urge to cry. My hands started to tremble. "If you think we're a lost cause here at camp, then go off with Rachel Elizabeth Dare for that stupid vacation."
"Ivy-"
"Might as well be in her company than ours."
"Ivy, that's not fair." Percy said, his voice thick. His brows furrowed together as his eyes scanned my face. My heart pinched again as I felt a tear slip down my cheek. He frowned. "Ives..."
I pushed past him and stormed toward the strawberry field. My hand wipe away the falling tears. I could hear Annabeth scold Percy, her voice becoming faint as I left them behind.
So...yeah tons of emotions this chapter 😂
Also had enough time to update today ◡̈ not sure when i can update next tho