Book 3 - The Titans Curse
"What happened?" Annabeth came into the infirmary. Percy was sitting just beside Ayden's bed with her hand in his.
"She collapsed," Percy shook his head. "She was having an argument with Thalassa." Annabeth moved to the other side with Grover as the three of them waited. Grover touched Ayden's arm exposing the markings.
"Do we know what these mean exactly?" He asked.
"I've been doing some reading on conduits-."
"What?" Grover stared at her.
"It's what she is," Percy muttered. He reached forward and moved a piece of her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. She moved her head toward his touch but didn't wake.
"She can call upon the primordial magic when she cuts the marking. It's in place of a sacrifice so she can earn their magic," Annabeth reasoned. She moved her hand over the scar. It was over Achlys's branding mark. "She used this to heal herself after Artemis shot her."
"That's amazing."
"It's not," Annabeth crossed her arms. "She has to pay a price for this and no one knows what it is. She's the first demigod to take the markings. We have no idea what they could do to her."
"We need to figure out what it could be?" Percy didn't take his eyes off the girl.
"We have to worry about Luke and Ki as well, Kronos's army is building constantly," Annabeth added. "She will have to talk with the primes."
"I already have," Ayden whispered. She moved her head a little and looked around. "Where am I?"
"Infirmary," Percy leaned forward. "You passed out, how do you feel?"
"Fine," Ayden took a deep breath. "Tired, but I always feel tired."
"What did Thalassa say," Annabeth gripped Ayden's other hand. She blinked a few times and stared at the ceiling.
"Nothing."
"She didn't say nothing," Percy stared at her. Ayden tilted her head and sighed.
"She didn't know, it could be a number of things," Ayden shrugged. "None of the other conduits had taken the markings, they don't know what will happen, but I don't have a long future." Percy clenched his jaw as he rubbed a hand over his face. No one spoke. Annabeth was chewing the inside of her lip as she thought.
"Would you consider coming to stay with me?" Percy asked. He was trying to lighten the mood and change the subject. Ayden pushed herself up on the pillow and hugged her knees.
"I'm not sure," she shook her head. "I might have to go on another quest."
"For what?"
"There are some demigods I have to find." Ayden rubbed her eyes. "Potential conduits."
"Who?" Grover asked. "How do you know them?"
"They are the other conduits," Annabeth explained. "But how do you know their names?"
"The primes, they were recruited years ago, but they denied the markings. I've been the only one to accept," Ayden looked over at Percy. "I wanted enough power to save them. Cameron and Ki." Grover stared down at his hands.
"We've got a lot to do this term year," Grover breathed. Ayden nodded. "We need to search for Nico." Ayden went to get out of bed, but Percy put his hand on her shoulder.
"No, we can do that, I will explain when we come back, but you stay here. I mean it." Ayden sighed but relaxed into the bed.
"I can help," She muttered.
"Just rest please," Annabeth gave her a smile as the three of them left the room. Ayden wasn't injured, she felt better. She sat up in bed and swung her legs over the side.
"You aren't supposed to be leaving," Chiron spoke as he walked into the room. Ayden gave him a tight smile.
"Well, they left me unsupervised."
"No, they didn't, they sent me," Chiron chuckled. He moved farther into the room.
"Do you have something for me to do?" Ayden asked. "I don't like sitting here."
"Not for today at least, in time I might have you speak with Clarisse about her mission, but for now just rest. You've gone through a lot," Chiron touched the white piece of Ayden's hair. "How did speaking with Achlys go?"
"Great, I'm gonna die one day," Ayden nodded. "Already knew that so it doesn't change much."
"But you're still hurt?" Ayden rubbed her hands together.
"Yeah," She breathed. "I trusted them. I thought they truly cared for me, but I don't think that anymore. I don't know why I still think it's possible, especially with gods. They all have their own agendas it was naive of me to think otherwise."
"It's okay to hope."
"Not after you've learned time and time again to stop," Ayden shook her head. She took a deep breath. "Doing the same things over and over is the definition of insanity is it not?"
"Your father would like you to return to the Ares cabin," Chiron tried to change the subject. Ayden laughed as she ran a hand through her hair.
"Wow," She stood up and popped her back. "Clarisse is going to love that."
"She's changed," Chiron added, he gave her a grim smile. "You will see. You have a place here, I promise you that." She gave him a concerned look.
"Thank you, Chiron," He bowed his head and left the infirmary. Ayden looked at the bed and then she too left the infirmary.
She walked passed the cabins, several Ares kids were moving in and out of their cabin. They seemed to be in a hurry like they had somewhere to be or to go. Ayden walked down the long path. She didn't see any Demeter children on the path. She saw the cabin as the trees cleared out.
She stood there staring at the dead plants buried behind the wood building. She moved around them and stared at the stone garden boxes Cameron had made when they first met. She moved around the side of the cabin and went inside seeing nothing had changed. She wondered for a moment if other children had come in at any point. If anyone other than Cameron herself had visited the cabin.
Ayden pulled her knife from her pocket and walked back outside the cabin. She found the tree directly in front of the door and started carving. She was careful not to hurt the tree too badly. She instead carved the initials C.E. into the tree. It was Cameron's cabin after all, if no one else had come by. She looked around one last time. There was a twisting feeling deep in her gut that she couldn't get rid of.
She tried not to blame herself too much for Cameron's death, but it was still her fault. Cameron was a liar, she was a traitor, but she was still a friend to Ayden. Even if she wasn't trustworthy she'd saved Ayden and cared for her many times. Luke had even said Cameron had sacrificed everything for Ayden. She chose the side she thought was the best. She walked back down the path and found her bag in the stables.
***
The first thing that Ayden realized was that Clarisse wasn't around. Others were in the cabin talking amongst themselves or sharpening their weapons, but Clarisse wasn't around. No one made any comments as she put her stuff down on the loft again. It was still unoccupied since the last time she'd left it. No one had touched anything.
Ayden saw the arsenal on the far wall. She could see one of the swords she used to train with. She teleported over to it taking the hilt in her hands. She hadn't officially trained with a blade in her hands in a while. She swung it back and forth. Her body was screaming for a distraction. She decided to head to the training arena. She had made it to the top of the hill and saw the familiar figure as she moved around the dummies. She had her shield and sword as she chopped off each of their straw heads.
"Brutal," Ayden smiled as she stepped onto the platform. Clarisse looked over her shoulder.
"Are you allowed to be touching that?" Ayden lifted the sword as it caught the sunlight and smirked.
"Mhmm, want to spar?"
"Was that an actual offer?" Clarisse pointed her sword at Ayden. There was a layer of sweat on her forehead and arms. She didn't have the same aura as before.
"Sure was," Ayden smiled. "A genuine one."
"Perfect," Clarisse smiled. The two of them circled each other. "I need a distraction."
"From?" Clarisse lunged at Ayden.
She was able to deflect the blow, but barely. She could have teleported around Clarisse, but she decided she needed the practice without her magic for a while. She'd been training her magic all term with the primes. She was ready for something normal. Something that didn't involve draining herself.
"A mission," Clarisse swung at her head, but Ayden ducked and blocked her sword. Clarisse tossed her shield to the side.
Around them, people from Ares, Apollo, and Hermes cabins started to gather. To them, this was better than a UFC fight. Clarisse and Ayden. Both are known for their brutality and anger with one another. After the guard watch last year and the stories that went through camp about Ayden's abilities, people have been dying for another Clarisse versus Ayden fight.
"What is happening?" Annabeth asked as they pushed their way through the campers. They had spotted them from the path as they got back to camp. The torches were lit around the arena and people were cheering. Percy watched as the Stoll brothers passed drachmas back and forth. They were moving around the circle to the campers accepting bets.
"Seriously," Grover chuckled. Percy paused when he saw Ayden's smile. She had ducked away from Clarisse's sword. Both of them were sweating, but they were smiling. There was no malice or anger. It was a joyful look. He hadn't seen it on either of their faces for a while.
"We've been gone for what two hours and she's already sparring," Annabeth smirked. "God she's going to work herself to death."
"Yeah, they are toying with each other," Selena explained as she came forward. "They've been doing this for a little over an hour."
"And why is everyone around?" Percy asked.
"Are you joking?" Selena smiled. "We've been waiting for these two to fight one another again since last term. Ayden is terrifying."
"So is Clarisse," Grover muttered. Clarisse came forward and shouldered Ayden as she fell back. She rolled to the side and both of them raised their swords and pointed at one another's throats. Percy stepped forward, but Annabeth stopped him.
"Wait."
"We've seen-." Both girls started laughing with one another. Ayden was the first to drop her sword as Clarisse offered her a hand. They both looked around the group of people and gave a bow. Some seemed disappointed with the ending, but others just smirked at the pair.
"That's unexpected." Ayden's eyes caught Percy as she moved over to him. She didn't stop herself as she threw herself on Percy. He smiled and wrapped his arms around the girl. Others around them noticed the gesture and started to whisper amongst themselves.
"We've been gone for an hour maybe," Percy smiled. Ayden leaned back and ran her hand through his hair.
"Yeah, well I haven't trained in a long time with a sword," She tilted her head to the side. Annabeth and Grover stood beside both of them with an interesting expression on their faces. Ayden looked over at them, she still had her arms resting on Percy's shoulders and his hands were on her hips.
"What?"
"Nothing," The pair said at the same time as they waved for everyone to leave the arena.
"Okay," Ayden pushed her hair back as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"Ayden!" Clarisse called. "You moved back into Ares cabin?"
"Yeah," Ayden nodded.
"Okay." She walked past her. "Still on the loft?" Ayden nodded as she walked past. She looked at Grover who just shrugged.
"She's being friendly," Percy looked confused.
"It's weird right?" Ayden grabbed her sword from the ground and looked around. "We've got a lot to do."
"What do you mean?" Grover asked looking worried.
"I'm not sure yet, but for now, let's just go back up and enjoy our meal time." She smiled at each of them. She felt better already. She was home, Camp Half-Blood. If nowhere else was comfortable or safe for her, she could come back here. She had fun and she never thought she would be saying that with Clarisse, but she did. Their spar was friendly, they weren't out to kill each other.