Evelyn
Ive seen Camp Half-Blood during the winter before, maybe a few times actually, but it's usually not snowing.
See, the camp has the ultimate magic climate control. Nothing gets inside the borders unless the director, Mr. D, wants it to. I thought it would be warm and sunny, but instead the snow had been allowed to fall lightly. Frost covered the chariot track and the strawberry fields. The cabins were decorated with tiny flickering lights, like Christmas lights, except they seemed to be balls of real fire. More lights glowed in the woods, and weirdest of all, a fire flickered in the attic window of the Big House, where the Oracle dwelt, imprisoned in an old mummified body. But I was too nauseous from Thalias wonderful driving.
"Never getting in a car with Thalia ever again. Gods."
Thalia
Evelyn looked like she was going to puke, and i didnt blame her. Apollo was stupid for making me drive that Chariot.
"Whoa," Nico said as he climbed off the bus.
"Is that a climbing wall?
"Yeah." Percy answered
"Why is there lava pouring out of it?"
"Little extra challenge. Come on. Ill introduce you to Chiron. Zoë, have you met—"
"I know Chiron," Zoë said stiffly. "Tell him we will be in Cabin Eight. Hunters, follow me."
"Tough." Evelyn said sarcastically, making me glare at her.
"Ill show you the way," Grover offered.
"We know the way."
"Oh, really, its no trouble. Its easy to get lost here, if you dont" —he tripped over a canoe and came up still talking— "like my old daddy used to say! Come on!" I saw Evelyn giggling in the corner of my eye.
Zoë rolled her eyes, but I guess she figured there was more getting rid of Grover. The Hunters shouldered their packs and bows and headed off toward the cabins. As Bianca di Angelo was leaving, she whispered something in her brother's ear. She looked at him for an answer, but Nico just scowled and turned away.
"Take care sweethearts!" Apollo called out after the Hunters. He winked at Percy. "Watch out for those prophecies, Percy. Ill see you soon."
"What do you mean?"
Instead of answering, he hopped back in the bus.
"Later, Thalia," he called to me. "And, uh, be good!"
He gave me a wicked smile as if he knew something I didnt. Then he closed the doors and revved the engine. Percy turned aside as the sun chariot took off in a blast of heat. When Percy looked back, the lake was steaming. A red Maserati soared over the woods, glowing brighter and climbing higher until it disappeared in a ray of sunlight.
"Hes weird." Evelyn muttered.
Nico was still looking grumpy. I wondered what his sister had told him.
"Whos Chiron?" He asked. "I dont have his figurine."
"Our activities director." Percy said. "Hes . . . well, youll see."
"If those Hunter girls dont like him," Nico grumbled, "thats good enough for me. Lets go."
Evelyn
While walking to the Big House, we spotted Charles Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin stoking the forge outside the camp armory. The Stoll brothers, Travis and Connor, from the Hermes cabin, were picking a lock on the camp store. A few kids from the Ares Cabin were having a snowball fight with the wood nymphs at the edge of the forest. That was about it. Even Clarisse didnt seem to be around, hopefully at least Silena is.
The Big House was decorated with strings of red and yellow fireballs that warmed the porch but didnt seem to catch anything on fire. Inside, flames crackled in the hearth. The air smelled like hot chocolate. Mr. D, the camp director, and Chiron were playing a quiet game of cards in the parlor.
Chirons brown beard was definitely more shaggier since I last saw him, his curly hair had grown a bit longer. He wasnt posing as a teacher this year, so i guess he could afford to be casual. He wore a fuzzy sweater with a hoof print design on it, and he had a blanket on his lap that almost hid his wheelchair completely.
He smiled when he saw us. "Percy! Thalia! Evelyn! Ah, and this must be—"
"Nico di Angelo," Percy butted in. "He and his sister are half-bloods."
Chiron breathed a sigh of relief. "You succeeded, then."
"Well . . ."
His smile melted. "Whats wrong? And wheres Annabeth?"
"Oh, dear," Mr. D said in a bored tone. "Not another one lost."
"Im sorry?" I stepped up, confusingly.
"What do you mean?" Thalia asked. "Who else is lost?"
Just then, Grover trotted into the room, grinning like crazy. He had a black eye and red lines on his face that looked like a slap mark. "The Hunters are all moved in!"
"They moved something around." I said, talking about how rough his face looked, I heard Thalia laugh behind me, I made Thalia laugh?
Chiron frowned. "The Hunters, eh? I see we have much to talk about." He glanced at Nico. "Grover, perhaps you should take our young friend to the den and show him our orientation film."
"But . . . Oh, right. Yes, sir."
"Orientation film?" Nico asked. "Is it G or PG? 'Cause Bianca is kinda strict—"
"Its PG-13," Grover said.
"Cool!" Nico happily followed him out of the room.
"Now," Chiron said to me, Thalia, and Percy, "perhaps you three should sit down and tell us the whole story."
When we were done, Chiron turned to Mr. D. "We should launch a search party for Annabeth immediately."
"I'll go," Thalia, me, and Percy said at the same time.
Mr. D sniffed. "Certainly not!"
We all started complaining, but Mr. D held up his hand. He had that purplish angry fire in his eyes that usually meant something bad and godly was gonna happen if we didnt shut up.
"From what you have told me," Mr. D said, "We have broken even on this escapade. We have, ah, regrettably lost Annie Bell—"
"Annabeth," Percy snapped, I put a hand on his shoulder to attempt to reassure him.
"Yes, yes," he said. "And you procured a small annoying boy to replace her. So I see no point in risking further half-bloods on a ridiculous rescue. The possibility is very great that this Annie girl is dead."
"Okay, this is stupid. Why am i here?" I butted in, annoyed with Mr. D. "Whats the point?"
I began to walk out the big house but Thalia grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. I rolled my eyes and slouched in the chair behind me, crossing my arms.
"Annabeth may be alive," Chiron said, but I could tell he was having trouble sounding upbeat. He'd practically raised her all those years she was a year-round camper, before she'd given living with her dad and stepmom a second try. "If . . . if our enemies have her, she will try to play for time. She may even pretend to cooperate."
"Thats right," Thalia said. "Luke would want her alive." I mean, her voice wasnt that bad.
"In which case," said Mr. D, "Im afraid she will have to be smart enough to escape on her own."
Percy stood up. How protective.
"Percy." Chiron's tone was full of warning.
"You're glad to lose another camper! You'd like it of we all disappeared!" Percy shouted.
Mr. D stifled a yawn. "You have a point?"
"Yeah. Just because you were sent here as a punishment doesnt mean you have to be a lazy jerk! This is your civilization, too. Maybe you could try helping out a little!"
For a second there was no sound except the crackle of fire. I wanted to stop him from saying even more but he had a point. The light reflected in Mr. D's eyes, giving him a sinister look. He opened his mouth to say something—probably a curse that would blast Percy away—when Nico burst into the room, followed by Grover.
"Aah!! I love this kid!" I sort of shrieked.
"SO COOL!" Nico yelled, holding his hands out to Chiron. "You're. . . you're a centaur!"
Chiron managed a nervous smile. "Yes, Mr. di Angelo, if you please. Though, I prefer to stay in the human form in this wheelchair for, ah, first encounters."
"And, whoa!" He looked at Mr. D. "You're the wine dude? No way!"
Mr. D turned his eyes away from Percy and gave Nico a look of loathing. "The wine dude?" Which made me giggle.
"Dionysus, right? Oh, wow! Ive got your figurine."
"My figurine."
"In my game, Mythomagic. And a holofoil card, too! And even though youve only got like five hundred attack points and everyone thinks you're the lamest god card, I think your powers are sweet!"
"Ah. Well, thats . . . gratifying."
"Percy," Chiron said quickly, "you, Thalia, and Evelyn go down to your cabins. Inform the campers we'll be playing capture the flag tomorrow evening."
"Capture the flag?" Percy asked. "But we dont have enough—"
"It is a tradition," Chiron interrupted. "A friendly match, whenever the Hunters visit."
"Yeah," Thalia muttered. "I bet its real friendly."
"Really? Cause you dont seem like you like them very mu-" I started to say.
"—Of course not, you're so stupid"
"Shut up you little . . . er . . lightning rod! Yeah, lightning rod."
"Okay." She rolled her eyes.
Chiron jerked his head toward Mr. D, who was still frowning as Nico talked about how many defense points all the gods had in his game. "Run along now," Chiron told us.
"Oh, right," Thalia said. "Come on, Percy, and . . . you." She referred to me.
She hauled us out of the big house before Dionysus remembered he wanted to kill Percy.
"You've already got Ares on your bad side," Thalia reminded Percy as we trudged toward the cabins. "You need another immortal enemy?"
"Ares is kinda fine, not gonna—" Thalia covered my mouth.
"Okay, thats enough for you."
"Sorry," Percy said. "I couldn't help it. Its just so unfair."
I removed Thalias hand off my face, and mouthed 'Hes so in love' to her, and she smiled. Whoa! Thalia smiling! At me! Thats a, what is it? Second?
She stopped by the armory and looked across the valley, toward the top of Half-Blood Hill. Her pine tree was still there, the Golden Fleece glittering in its lowest branch. The tree's magic still protected the borders of camp, but it no longer used Thalia's spirit for power.
"Percy, everything is unfair," Thalia muttered. "Sometimes I wish . . ."
She didnt finish, but her tone was so sad I felt sorry for her. Again, im on a roll. With her ragged black hair and her black punk clothes, an old wool overcoat wrapped around her, she looked like some kind of huge raven, completely out of place in the white landscape.
"We'll get Annabeth back," Percy promised. "I just dont know how yet."
"First I found out that Luke is lost, now Annabeth—"
"Dont think like that."
"Youre right." Thalia straightened up. "We'll find a way."
Over at the basketball court, a fee of the Hunters were shooting hoops. One of them was arguing with a guy from the Ares cabin. The Ares kid had his hand on his sword and the Hunter girl looked like she was going to exchange her basketball for a bow and arrow any second.
"Ill break that up," Thalia said. "You circulate around the cabins. Tell everyone about capture the flag tomorrow. You come with me." She pointed at me.
"Alright. You should be team captain." Percy responded.
"Honestly I should be team captain, but whatever." I added on before me and Thalia made our way over to the argument.
"No, no," she said. "You've been at camp longer. You do it, and Evelyn could never lead a team." I stood there jokingly offended.
"We can, uh . . . co-captain."
She looked uncomfortable, but nodded anyway.
Before we could head for the court, Percy said, "Hey, Thalia." I groaned.
"I wanna know what they're arguing about!"
"Yeah?" She ignored me.
"Im sorry about what happened at Westover, I shouldve waited for you guys."
"'S okay, Percy. I probably would've done the same thing." She shifted from foot to foot, like she was trying to decide whether or not to say more. "You know, you asked about my mom and i kinda snapped at you. Its just . . . I went back to find her after seven years, and I found out she died in Los Angeles. She, um . . . she was a heavy drinker, and apparently she was driving late one night about two years ago, and . . ." Thalia blinked hard.
"Im sorry."
"Yeah, well. Its . . . its not like we were ever close. I ran away when I was ten. Best two years of my life were when I was running around with Luke and Annabeth. But still—"
"Thats why you had trouble with the sun van."
She gave him a wary look. "What do you mean?"
"The way you stiffened up. You must've been thinking about your mom, not wanting to get behind the wheel."
I felt my face change in confusion, that wasnt it, it was her great fear of heights, this boy is actually clueless.
"Yeah," she muttered. "Yeah, that mustve been it."
We made our way to the court, where the Ares camper and the Hunter were trying to kill eachother with a sword and a basketball.
"You alright?" I asked, not making eye contact.
"Fine." She responded.
"Thats not it, is it?"
"What?"
"The 'Not wanting to get behind the wheel' bullshit."
"Yeah."
We were at the court and Thalia stopped and solved the argument. I was rooting for the Hunter but its whatever.
Emma Speaks!! (2.3k words)
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this chapter took FOREVERR to write i am super duper sorry, not much is happening either but 2/19/24 this chapter was completed and dont forget to check out my friend asher's one shots if there is any out when this is published, his oc, mines, thalia, and nico are mostly in them but yeah!!!!! i feel like theres more i wanted to say but i forgot but enjoy this chapter and upcoming ones!!
queerslayed