/Qᵘᵉˢᵗⁱᵒⁿ ᵃⁿᵈ ᴱˣᵖˡᵃⁿᵃᵗⁱᵒⁿ ᵖˡᵘˢ ᵃ ᶠʳᵉᵃᵏⁱⁿᵍ ᵗᵒⁱˡᵉᵗ ʷᵃᵗᵉʳ ᶠⁱᵍʰᵗ/
𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯
"𝚀𝚞𝚒𝚊 𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚘, 𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚎"
Melanie wondered how long it would take these (stupid) gods to finally claim their poor children. With disheveled hair from the little fight with her brothers, she lay flat on the terrace outside cabin 12 and thought. Her fingertips played with little vines that sprouted from the cracks in the terrace and grew around her new bracelet and then up her arm. The feeling of the plants on her skin calmed the storm in her head. The sun caused long shadows to be cast from the cabin and enveloped Melanie in a calming hug.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Annabeth turning another whitish page of her new book, burning the Greek symbols and letters into her head. It was as if she could smell the new book from here. A smell that she hated and loved at the same time. something that reminded her of a moment that had turned her life upside down and yet still gave her comfort. The warm summer wind swept and whirled the leaves, danced around Melanie like a quiet song and whispered different notes in her ear. Now the two girls just waited until Chiron and Percy finished their tour and arrived here.
Percy. Percy Jackson, as she had learned. There was something strange about this boy. He was different, and this in a camp full of Demi gods. A title you didn't necessarily want to be given. Expressionless, violet eyes looked up at the sky. The various shades of gray and blue gave the sky full of storm clouds its threatening colors. Thunder rolled here and there to remind her that he was still there, looking down on her from the sky. Most likely cursing or swearing.
It was as if the sky was steeling itself against war and devouring everything and everyone that came near it. "Drama queen," Melanie murmured and thunder rolled from the sky again. Melanie clicked her tongue in annoyance. Zeus overdid it again. "Mel," Annabeth said without looking up from her book. "We don't curse the gods."
Of the two girls, it was clear who played which role. Melani was the girl who didn't care about other people's opinions. She said what she thought, when and how she wanted. And with an indifference that even the gods had never experienced. Annabeth, on the other hand, was the perfect daughter of Athena, she thought before she said anything and kept Melanie's head above water. In the truest sense of the word. Annabeth once had to save Melanie from drowning because the girl slipped on the beach in the middle of the night and couldn't find her way out of the water in the dark.
Fun fact: Melanie can't swim. Not because she was scared or anything, no, she just never found the right mood to learn. According to her, if she never left the protective walls of Camp Half-Blood, she didn't need it anyway.
"Believe me Ann, when I tell you it doesn't matter to me. And at some point you'll swear too, I can tell you that now."Annabeth huffed through her nose in disbelief and turned another page. The rustling of several papers followed.
Finally the two girls heard the familiar clacking of hooves on sandy ground in the distance. Chiron was finally finished. Melanie closed her eyes and breathed out a deep, bored sigh. She knew what she had to prepare for. From the stupid questions, to the answers and questions asked again and again with each new demigod. If they were very unlucky today, someone would start a fight.
Melanie opened her violet eyes and turned her head. Her platinum blonde locks spread all over the terrace and her hairpin next to her for safety. She saw Annabeth staring critically at the new boy. In Melanie's eyes, there were only two things she could think about right now. One: she was still thinking about the drooling, or two: she was looking for the best way to judo flip the boy over her shoulder when he started getting on her nerves. Percy, who was now standing in front of the two blondes at Chiron's side craned his head, trying to see what Annabeth was reading. You could see exactly what he was thinking by the look on his face. Melanie gave a slight chugging sound and slowly propped herself up on her elbows, tilting her head back.
"Annabeth, Melanie" Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. "Would you take Percy from here?"
"Yes, sir."
"If I have to," Melanie replied emotionlessly.
Percy gave her an irritated look. "Cabin eleven," Chiron told Percy, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home." Melanie sighed deeply again and stood up. She grabbed the hairpin from the floor. The cold metal heated up on contact with her skin and the gold-plated tendrils pressed into her skin slightly, but not enough to make it painful. With a quick movement, Melanie pinned up half of her hair and opened the wooden door to cabin 12. Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on old. The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. A caduceus. Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all over the floor. It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center. Annabeth and Melanie entered, Percy followed behind and stopped just in front of the entrance.
Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully.
"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner. Melanie remember our conversation with new campers and Annabeth don't attack him." He galloped away towards the archery range. Melanie rolled her eyes and looked around the cabin. She spotted the Stoll brothers and nodded to them. The two brothers gave her a big grin. Brown curls hung over their faces.
Percy stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at him, sizing him up. Melanie takes a step to the side to escape the toll. Pressed against the wall, she watched as Percy was surrounded by the others. "Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on." Percy, of course, had to stumble. Good first impression, thought Melanie and suppressed a snort, which she covered with a cough.
There were some snickers from the campers, but none of them said anything. Melanie pushed herself away from the wall, walked over to Annabeth and threw her arm over her shoulder before she announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven."
"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked. Percy didn't know what to say, but Annabeth said, "Undetermined." Everybody groaned. Melanie had already seen this reaction before. Something moved in the crowd of campers.
A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward. "Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there."
The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall andmuscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. He wore anorange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different colored clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was athick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an oldknife slash.
Melanie noticed Annabeth getting a little nervous under her arm and gave the blonde a knowing look. Annabeth glared at her before looking back at Luke. Melanie had known Luke for a very, very long time. She had been here before him and led him and the then seven-year-old Annabeth through the various stations of the camp. Of course, she knew about Thalia Grace's fate on that fateful day. To be honest, Melanie was the one who had to drag the two demigods over the barrier at Grover's obituary. Not an easy task for the body of a seven-year-old girl. The scream still echoed in her ears. Those shrill, horrible screams. Melanie remembered the adrenaline coursing through her veins at that point. She remembered the blood that flowed from her blood vessels and soaked her camp t-shirt red. The pain and the fatigue that overwhelmed her back then.
She remembered the monster chasing her as she hoisted Annabeth onto her back and grabbed Luke's cold hand. The thunder and the deep black sky with lightning. It was all too much for a little girl like her. And yet she managed to get the two demi-gods over the barrier, as well as running back and scooping up Grover. Only Thalia didn't reach them in time. To be honest, Melanie didn't blame herself for that. Don't get her wrong, of course it was sad what happened to Thalia. But Melanie knew that her death was not her fault. She had one job and that was to get Annabeth and Luke, as well as Grover, over the borders. Especially since she was fully aware that she wouldn't be able to go to Thalia while she was in the barrier and checking on Annabeth. Still, there was a little tug when Melanie thought about that night.
Unconsciously, her fingertips reached to her right shoulder. There, above her collarbone, was a fine, thin, whitish scar. A sign of their actions that day.
"This is Luke," Annabeth said. Her voice rose a little higher and Melanie grinned as she waved in Annabeth's direction. The blonde pulled her arm away and jokingly hit Melanie in the ribs. The daughter of Dionysus pretended to be seriously wounded and showed off her best acting skills to pretend that she was about to die. Annabeth rolled her eyes with a grin and several campers inside the cabin laughed along with her. Including Luke, who looked at the scene between the two girls with amused eyes.
Percy looked at Melanie and Annabeth and he could swear, he saw Annabeth blush. Annabeth caught his eye and her expression immediately hardened. "He's your counselor for now," she then said, stepping on Melanie's foot. Melanie held back another snort before her eyes returned to their normal boredom.
"For now?" Percy asked.
"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Of course, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers."
Percy first looked at the narrow space on the floor, then back around. Some sullen and suspicious, some grinning stupidly, some eyeing him as if they were waiting for a chance to pick his pockets. Melanie already had experience with such things. How often did she have to go to the Hermes cabin to retrieve some of her things that magically disappeared in front of her and usually ended up with the Stoll brothers or Luke.
"How long will I be here?" Percy asked.
"Good question," Luke said, looking at him appraisingly. This gesture reminded him a little of Annabeth, just not quite as sharply. "Until you're determined."
"How long will that take?"
The campers all laughed and Melanie rolled her eyes. It was always stressful to explain everything to the new ones when their father or Chiron didn't show the orientation film. Annabeth had enough. She took a step forward, her wise, gray eyes narrowed and her princess curls bouncing around her.
"Come on," Annabeth told Percy and grabbed his arm. "We'll show you the volleyball court." Percy looked at her puzzled. His sea-green eyes first looked at her before colliding with abysmal violet ones. Melanie looked at him bored again. Somehow this bothered him and he didn't know why.
"I've already seen it."
"Come on." She grabbed his wrist and dragged Percy outside. Melanie turned on her heel, waved wearily at the Hermes cabin, who waved back, and strolled with her hands in her jeans pockets behind a confused Percy Jackson, who was being dragged behind by an annoyed daughter of Athena.
♛
"Do you still think it's him?" Melanie asked absently as she eyed the black-haired boy in front of them. "I don't know," her best friend sighed, chewing uncertainly on her bottom lip. Percy gave the two gossips an irritated look. "I can hear you, you know." Melanie twitched her shoulders. "It doesn't matter."
"What?"
Melanie ignored his question. She looked around and breathed in the midday air. One advantage of being the daughters of the wine god was that she could always smell fresh grapes in the air, a smell she never wanted to forget. The smell that saved her life. The sun shone and briefly flashed her earrings. The golden fans on it seemed to vibrate. Melanie looked back at the Jackson boy. She let out a long sigh. "Listen to me carefully, Jackson," she began. Percy glared at her. He didn't really know if he liked this girl. To him she seemed snooty. Someone who thought she could do anything. She reminded him a little of Nancy Bobfit from his old school and he didn't like that at all.
"I'll only say this once and I advise you to remember it carefully," Annabeth nodded. The daughter Athena knew what was coming. Melanie didn't often interfere in other people's affairs, but both girls knew that this boy in front of them needed a bit of a push. Percy waited. He watched as the sun reflected on her skin and her violet eyes deviated to the cabins at the fireplace. Her ash-blonde tresses blew lightly in the wind. Melanie took a deep breath. "There are certain people in this camp who don't like you," Percy rolled his eyes. "Geez thanks."
Melanie ignored him again. She didn't care if the boy in front of her took her advice, which was about to come. If he did, then good for him, if not, then bad luck. Both decisions had no meaning for her. She only intervened because she felt a little sorry for him, an emotion that always led her astray. Her head told her: "Suppress it!" but her heart told her the opposite. The devil on her shoulder whispered mischievously in her ear how she should let the boy run into the open knife. But the angel on her shoulder won. The arguments sounded like music and drowned out the loud throbbing of the devil.
"There is one thing in this camp that I would like to recommend to you." Melanie looked Percy straight in the eyes. The deep sea of amethyst met the dangerous fury of the ocean.
"The rule here is: Keep your friend close and your enemies closer." Percy looked at her annoyed. His green eyes seemed unimpressed. "Wow," he said. "That's really good advice, will it help me in real life?"
Annabeth wanted to attack the boy, but Melanie's calm look stopped her from putting a knife to the boy's neck. Melanie still looked Percy straight in the eyes. Her entire existence seemed extraordinary. It intimidated the Jackson boy, but stubborn like he was, he still accepted the challenge and held her gaze. "What you do with it is not my problem," she shrugged and walked past the boys. A fragrant cloud of leaves and grapes wafted into his nose as he saw the ash-blonde curls float past him. Melanie led the way, Annabeth close behind her and Percy at the back. Her answer made him think and come to a decision.
He didn't like Melanie Wyney. He just couldn't understand her. When they were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."
"What?"
She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one." Melanie gave her a glance from ahead. "What's your problem?" Percy was getting angry. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy—"
"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth told him. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"
"To get killed?"
"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"
Percy shook his head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories..."
"Yes."
"Then there's only one."
"Yes."
"And he died, like, a gazillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So..."
"Monsters don't die, Jackson. It's like a weed that you can't get rid of. You can suppress it and destroy it for a while, but it always comes back after a while." Melanie explained. Her tired eyes wandered over the forest in which they stood. She didn't look at the Jackson boy. She would most likely not see him again after that anyway. "They can be killed. But they don't die," she finished. Percy clicked his tongue. "Oh, thanks. That clears it up."
"They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they re-form." Percy hesitated for a moment and looked as if he was thinking about something, which the blonde in front of them thought was a miracle.
"You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword—"
"The Fur...I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there", Annabeth said. "You just made her very, very mad." Annabeth looked hesitantly at Melanie, who was not attending the conversation. She preferred to look at the forest. She smelled the fresh grass, admired the dewdrops in the shade of the leaves on which the green cells of the plants rested, despite the midday sun. She heard the animals. Even saw a satyr running after a wood nymph, only to run into a tree trunk with a thud. In other words, she missed half of the conversation.
She admired the sun, which pushed its way through the thick canopy of leaves and made the forest shine in the most beautiful shades of green. It luminated the whole forest. It was a sign that one should never give up, no matter how dark the times were. And yet, unbeknownst to her best friends and loved ones, Melanie Wyney was on the brink of despair. She was at the bottom, deep within herself, standing on the edge of an abyss made up of her own chaos and shattered dreams. And if she was honest, she didn't have the strength to stand up again, so she stayed there. Lying in the shadows full of sorrow, with no way back. And Melanie hated herself for it. She loathed herself. But she had given up long before her time at camp. Before she even knew she was allowed to fight back. From the outside the young girl was as usual. Calm, collective.... happy.
But from the inside all you could see was a deep, violett abyss wich was reflected only in her eyes.
The eyes are the window to the soul, say people. To Melanies, that was damn true. She could cover up everything, only her eyes let her down.
Eyes that showed how broken the girl was, how hurt. She was like a fragile porcelain figure, wrapped in metal.
"If you just weren't my daughter!"
"If you just could disappear!"
Melanie admired the sun, as well as the stars. They were everything she couldn't be. No matter how much dust and clouds, leaves and roofs were in front of them, they always found a way to be the brightest and give people hope. The gods reached everyone.
But the gods didn't seem to be able to reach her.
"Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" Percy sounded whiny. The sound brought Melanie out of her thoughts. She frowned as the peace that had spread through her like a warm shiver evaporated. She liked Percy Jackson less and less. "Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everyone so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there."
He pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale. Melanie swallowed slightly. "You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or...your parents." Annabeth and Melanie stared at Percy, waiting for him to understand.
"My mom is Sally Jackson," He said and Melanie grumbled under her breath. This boy was denser than Tartarus. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to."
"We're sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I am talking about your other parents. Your dad."
"He's dead. I never knew him."
Annabeth sighed. Melanie started moving and came to a stop next to Annabeth and in front of the unsuspecting boy. Both exchanged looks. It was clear that they had already had this conversation with many others. "Your father's not dead, Jackson," Melanie replied. Her voice seemed even more exhausted than before. As if she would fail at any moment and the girl who had that voice would collapse.
"How can you say that? "You know him?"
"No, of course not."
"Then how can you say—"
"Let me speak damn it!", she huffed, shooting Percy a glare, which he returned. Tahena's daughter took over from here again. She took a step forward and functioned as a buffer between the two demi-gods
"Because we know you. You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."
Percy scoffed. Melanie was so close to losing her cool with the boy. Never, really never had anyone managed to make her lose her calm as quickly as this boy. It was as if he simply climbed over the walls she had built around herself and threw water in her face. "You don't know anything about me."
"No?" She raised an eyebrow, a mischievous grin on her face. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."
"How—"
"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."
Percy swallowed hard at Melanie's words. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek," Annabeth stated. Her gray eyes bored into his soul. "And the ADHD—you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are."
"You sound like...you went through the same thing?"
"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."
"Ambrosia and nectar."
"The food and drink we gave you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a half-blood."
"A pretty annoying half-blood," Melanie grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. Annabeth elbowed her in the ribs and Melanie stifled a hiss. From the direction of the toilet block, Melanie noticed a change. Four silhouettes came towards the three demi-gods. Heavy footsteps could be heard, but they were well muffled by the sand. Melanie suppressed a tired groan. She knew these difficult steps too well. How often had she heard these and how often had she had to avoid them to avoid receiving the killing blow. Mind you, it was her fault that she was able to sneak like that.
Then a husky voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!" Percy looked from Annabeth over to the voice. The big girl from the ugly red cabin, which he had seen on the tour with Chiron, was sauntering towards her. She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.
"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"
"Sure, Miss Owl," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."
"Erre es korakas!" Annabeth shouted, which translated as "Go to the Crows."
"You don't stand a chance."
"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Maybe she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat. She turned towards Melanie. "And you stay out of it. Or it's you who has a broken rib this time."
Melanie casually shifted her weight onto her right foot. Dirt waved up and green tendrils slowly crept their way to Clarisse. Something flashed in her eyes. Something Percy hadn't seen in her yet. The golden dust flakes flashed and radiated something like anticipation and amusement.
"Quia videre cupio, Clarre" I want to see that Clarre.
Clarissa snorted bitterly. The air around the two girls was tense. Lightning almost flew through the area and the gentle scent of grapes became something intertoxic. Until Clarisse's eyes focused on Percy. "Who's this little runt?"
"Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, "Meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares." Percy blinked. "Like...the war god?" Clarisse sneezed. "You got a problem with that?"
"No," he said, recovering my wits. "It explains the bad smell." Clarisse growled, Annabeth looked surprised and Melanie grinned. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."
"Percy."
"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."
"Clarisse—" Annabeth tried to say.
"Stay out of it, wise girl." Her eyes went to Melanie. "You too Princess." Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it. Melanie raised her hands placatingly in surrender. Percy handed Annabeth his minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but before he knew it, Clarisse had him by the neck and was dragging Percy towards a cinderblock building that he knew immediately was the bathroom.
Percy was kicking and punching, stirring up the sand and polluting the air with a cloud of dust. Melanie held her hand over her nose to keep from breathing in the sand. Percy had been in plenty of fights before, but this big girl Clarisse had hands like iron. She dragged the boy into the girls' bathroom. Melnaie and Annabet followed. but neither did anything about it. They doubted that Percy even wanted help. She how he behaved. There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom. The clor that was used and at the same time the smell that was in every public bathroom. Melnaie wrinkled his nose. You never understand that if this camp belonged to the gods, the toilets were like this. She hated the smell.
Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and Percy was trying to find the strength he did used to fight the Minotaur, but it just wasn't there.
"Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said as she pushed the boy toward one of the toilets. "Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking." Her friends snickered. Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers. Melanie didn't blink once. She was leaning against the doorframe and had her hands in her jeans pockets. An emotionless look, as always, on her face. Percy couldn't even tell if she was amused by the sight in front of her or wanted to help him.
Clarisse bent him over on his knees and started pushing Percy's head toward the toilet bowl. It reeked like rusted pipes and, well, like what went into toilets. Percy strained to keep his head up. Melanie raised an eyebrow and took a step outside. Annabeth looked at her questioningly.
Then something happened. I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach. He heard the plumbing rumble, the pipes shudder. Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over his head, and the Next thing Percy knew, he was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind him.
The black haired boy turned just as water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt. The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backwards into a shower barn.
She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming towards her. But then the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. The showers acted up, too, and together all the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away. As soon as they were out the door, Percy felt the tug in his gut, and the water shut off as quickly as it had started.
The entire bathroom was flooded. Annabeth hadn't been spared. She was dripping wet, but she hadn't been pushed out the door. She was standing in exactly the same place, staring at me in shock. Melnaie strolled back in the door, her violet eyes fixed on Clarissa and her friends. She was completely dry, not a single drop of water had hit her. "The plants say thank you," she replied dryly and looked at Percy.
He looked down and realized he was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of dry floor around Percy, as if it was trying to protect him from the gray that existed in the toilet. Melanie had a bad feeling. She didn't know without evidence who his father was, but she could well imagine. A kind of cloud cover covered her eyes. They dulled and clouded, deep violet eyes watched Percy. Every step he took, every muscle he moved, she took it all in like a lion watching its prey. Percy trembled slightly under her ice-cold gaze. Melanie was something completely different. She was an enigma.
Percy stood up, his legs shaky like jelly. Annabeth said, "How did you...""I don't know."They walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk, including Melanie who was hunched over Ares daughter. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage. She gave Percy a look of absolute hatred. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."
"You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth."Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid their flailing feet. Annabeth and Melanie stared at him. Percy couldn't tell whether they were just grossed out or angry at him for dousing Annabeth.
"What? What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking," Annabeth said looking at Melanie who grimaced, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag." Melanie threw her head back and closed her eyes. "Oh joy," she complained.
Not everything is as it seems. Melanie learned that early on. But that was really unbelievable. While the forest was quiet and peaceful, the water kissed the white sand as normal and the stormy clouds continued to thunder outside, there was something in the air in Camp half-blood. It was oppressive. A providence of fate. Something Melanie wanted to avoid so badly. She just didn't know how. And even less did she realize that she had unconsciously already become entangled in the tendrils of fate that had been spun for her, like a fly in the spider's web of fate. With no chance of escaping.
And that was the day Melanie Wyner's life took a big turn and turn, and everything she knew turned upside down. And the reason was just two words: Perseus Jackson.
"𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝~"
♛♛♛