DOOMSDAY
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SEDUCTION WILL GET you anything and anyone you want. That's what Valeria learned from a young age— long before she'd even been claimed. Before she'd become a demigod.
Yet here she is, standing in front of Mr. D and Chiron in the Big House, drenched in salt water with a towel wrapped around her shoulders, knowing that neither her beauty nor seduction can get her out of this mess. Camryn and Amara stand beside her, the Demeter girl having slumped shoulders and an ashamed expression, while Camryn shows a bored look on her face.
Chiron clears his throat. "You girls know that you are not meant to be out of your cabins at this time of night. Correct?"
"Yes, sir," they answer in unison.
"You're lucky the harpies hadn't heard you tonight, otherwise this would be a much different conversation."
Mr. D makes a humming noise as he sits in the chair behind his desk. "Well, there wouldn't be anything left of them to talk—"
"Dionysus."
The god mumbles something under his breath before shutting his mouth, waving a careless hand for Chiron to continue with his lecture. The three half-bloods share odd looks between themselves, despite being accustomed to Mr. D's negligent behavior towards his campers.
For the first year she'd been at camp, Mr. D supposedly couldn't manage to remember Valeria's name, as he kept calling her Violet or Victoria. Apparently, this happened with many others when they'd arrived, which has led people wonder if he's somehow found a way to drink alcohol regardless of his curse from Zeus (though Valeria doubts it).
Chiron stares blankly at the man before averting his eyes back to the girls. "You all will face light punishments for sneaking out of your cabins come the morning. Understood?"
They nod.
"Good. Starting at eleven o'clock, Amara will give lessons on winged horseback riding with the rest of her siblings; Camryn shall teach archery to the newcomers and young campers; and Valeria, you'll be assisting the Hermes Cabin in demonstrating battle techniques in the afternoon. Your punishments will last one week only."
While Amara acknowledges her assignment with an apologetic look, Camryn smacks her palms over her face to stifle the groans of exasperation that erupt from her mouth. Valeria has to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from laughing, knowing that Camryn has received the longest and most draining task out of the three of them.
Then Valeria begins to think over her own punishment. Luke, along with other members from Cabin Ten, has told her numerous times about how frustrating the younger demigods can be during these lessons. She's always said that he must be exaggerating the hours where he's forced to instruct them, but she's never actually witnessed the events herself.
Every time Luke has tried to bring her with him to the lessons, Valeria has conveniently found something more interesting to occupy her until he's done teaching. She finds it hard to believe that his trainees could truly be so difficult.
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"You have the patience of a saint," Valeria says to Luke. He leans down to level his ear to her lips, the shouts and whines from the demigods around them echoing through the air. "How do you do this every day?"
Valeria's muscles are already sore from the repeated, harsh movements that her body has done, as she and Luke have been performing combative exercises for the past few hours. Additionally, she can feel the ache of her head from the sounds of their trainees' complaints. Her previous belief on how irritating the trainees are has surely been proven wrong.
He straightens, laughing slightly and shrugging a shoulder. "One of my many talents, I guess."
"Oh, shut up," Valeria whacks him in the arm with the back of her hand, "You're being conceited, you know that?"
"Ouch."
She shoots him a glare, which makes him to let out another laugh. Then Luke gently clasps his hand over her forearm and drags her closer to the group waiting for them. They stand on one of the large, vacant hills of camp as the sun shining down on them. They try to stay beneath the shade of the single tree in the ground to avoid sunburns and sweating.
Chris has his own separate group gathered not far from Valeria and Luke, though his students seem to be in much more discomfort than theirs because they're standing directly under the warmth of the sun. Each of the demigods have been supplied with battle gear, such as swords, spears, shields, and other weapons from the armory. Leather arm wraps and chest pieces cover their limbs, which merely adds to the unbearable temperatures of their bodies.
Luke comes to a stop and calls out, "Five minutes are up!" and all the trainees form a circle around him and Valeria. "We have ten more minutes until you're all dismissed"—sighs of relief begin to echo—"but we aren't done yet."
Everyone releases a collective groan.
"Who's we?" Valeria questions, squinting at him through the light that shines into her eyes.
He nudges her with his elbow and clears his throat. "Be quiet, please."
Valeria stares at him a moment longer before sighing softly, allowing him to continue. He commands them to take defensive stances, making his way around to adjust the positions of their arms and legs as they grip their weapons and shields tightly. The girl observes his actions from her spot by the tree trunk.
Once Luke is satisfied with their forms, he backs up to meet Valeria's side as he inclines his chin. The demigods slash their blades through the air in front of them, pausing to receive more instructions from Luke. He says, "again," and they copy their previous movements. "Good. Now keep going until we dismiss you. This all needs to become muscle memory."
Many overlapping whines are heard, causing him to chuckle while Valeria shakes her head at both him and the protests.
"Hey, have you ever thought that maybe the reason they're always so difficult is because of you?" she asks, watching as the children continue to follow Luke's orders.
He raises a brow at her, crossing his arms over his chest. "What do you mean?"
"You're basically torturing them, Luke. I would be sobbing on the grass if I were them."
"That's because you're a crybaby."
Valeria's eyes widen as she whirls toward him, looking up to meet his gaze. "Excuse me?"
A smug grin pulls at the corners of his lips, and Luke shrugs lazily with an exhale. "Nothing."
"Nuh—uh," she argues, knitting her brows together in offense. "Would you like to repeat that, Castellan?"
He fully smiles at her. "Oh, we're on a last name basis now?"
"We are if you're going to speak to me like that."
"Really?" Luke teases, his words being said in a playful tone. "Would you rather I speak to you in another way?"
Valeria rolls her eyes at him. "Let's not forget who has actual charmspeak here."
Much to her advantage, Valeria is one of the few children whom Aphrodite has blessed with the ability to charmspeak. A form of persuasion that can lead somebody to follow any command the speaker gives. However, Valeria has never used her abilities on Luke, as he typically does anything she asks him to without question or hesitation. So, there's been little to no reason for her to persuade him.
Now, though, Valeria is considering it.
Luke lets out a slight chuckle before briefly pausing. He seemingly contemplates his next words, his lips parting slowly. "Hey, what'd you guys do to get punishment, anyways? Chiron wouldn't tell me, and you haven't mentioned it."
Before she's able to respond, Chris' voice enters their ears despite the moderate distance between their hills. They turn to find his group moving down the steep mountain and towards the main area of camp, hauling a large wagon of training gear with them. "Hey, lovebirds! It's time to go."
Luke huffs at his brother's first comment and calls back, "Okay, we'll meet you there!"
However, their trainees have already started to descend the hill with their equipment, letting out energetic cheers of freedom. Luke scoffs quietly, and Valeria laughs as they follow suit, trudging through the tall grass side-by-side.
"So?"
Valeria blinks. "So, what?"
"Why did you get punishment?" Luke clarifies.
Her cheeks flush a bright red, and she purses her lips sheepishly. "Uh, we went swimming last night."
"Swimming?" Valeria hums, and Luke tilts his head in confusion. Then she pauses her steps, staring at him until it finally flicks. His brows raise, mouth forming into an O shape. "Were you guys... you know."
"You mean..." she points to herself, specifically at her clothes. Luke nods. "Oh, gods— No. We aren't that stupid."
Luke smirks, nodding once. "Good, otherwise Chiron probably would've had to bleach his eyes after catching you."
"You're acting like you weren't practically begging me to take off my clothes the other day," Valeria reminds him with a huff, bumping her shoulder into his. "If anything, you wish you were the one who'd caught us instead of Chiron."
"Invite me next time," he suggests. "Maybe you won't get caught, and I'll join you."
"Then I'd gauge out my eyes."
"More like your eyes would be blessed."
Valeria rolls her eyes, moving away from him steering her body in another direction. Luke's steps are heard from behind her, though he makes no attempt to call out to her. Then a pair of arms suddenly wraps over her midsection and lifts her up, the flats of her shoes barely scraping the pebbles and gravel. He continues to carry her as he marches down the path.
"Oh, jeez," Valeria groans, her voice strained by the feeling of his forearms tightening around her. The leather chest piece covering her torso presses into her ribs, and she throws her head back against his shoulder. "Put me down."
His mouth is muffled by her shoulder and hair, making it so that she practically can feel the wide smile on his face. "Nah, I'm good."
"I'm not," she tells him, pushing her palms against his knuckles to try and loosen his hold on her. "Please, put me down."
"Come on, Luke." Annabeth approaches them with an amused look on her features, arms crossing over her chest as she comes to a stop when they meet her halfway. "We're not gonna have any chance at winning if you smother her to death."
Luke finally releases Valeria, allowing her feet to meet the ground again. He keeps his hands placed on her waist, his fingers winding themselves into the fabric of her shirt as she lets out several heaving breaths when the pressure is lifted from her stomach.
"We're not going to have any chance with her on our team at all."
Valeria turns in his grasp to shove her palm against his shoulder, causing him to wince.
"Aphrodite is a war goddess," Annabeth mentions. She briefly glances at the proximity of her friends' bodies before going on, "You need to stop doubting Valeria's capabilities and start giving her more credit. Remember when Blake from Cabin Nine fell on his face right before they were about to grab our flag during the first game?"
Luke narrows his gaze. "Yeah?"
"That's because Valeria threw her shield at his knees and tripped him."
Valeria's lips form into wide smile at the memory, and she brings her palm up to cover her expression. The boy behind her shakes his head, grinning down at her and Annabeth as they laugh. "Of course you did."
"Hey, we won, didn't we?" Valeria counters. She steps forward to put an arm around Annabeth's shoulders, causing Luke's hands to slowly fall from her waist. "And we'll be winning that fourth match, too."
Annabeth nods her chin and breathes out deeply. "We better."
Luke walks on the other side of Valeria and reaches over her shoulders to pat the younger girl's back. "We will— trust me."
"Besides, I can just seduce the guys on the other team if all else fails," Valeria jokes.
Annabeth giggles, while Luke makes a face at her words. He gags, "Ew."
She glares up at him with a frown. "Or maybe I'll sacrifice you to distract them instead."
"You'd miss me too much," he states.
"You guys are gonna make me throw up before I even get to eat dinner," Annabeth interrupts as her eyes travel to the dining pavilion, where the rest of camp have already found their assigned tables and gathered food on their plates.
Valeria hums, sharing a look with Luke and dropping her arm from around Annabeth's neck. She runs a hand through the girl's locks and sighs. "Alright, you go ahead first. We'll be right behind you."
The Athena girl doesn't hesitate to agree, and she races down the hill to join her siblings. Valeria and Luke watch her with contentment displayed across their features, and then they turn to face each other a moment later.
"Looks like you've completed the first day of your punishment," Luke says in a slightly impressed tone. "Ready for another six days of being stuck with me and Chris?"
Valeria stifles an eye roll, causing Luke to grin softly at her dreadful reaction to his inquiry. She clasps her fingers over his wrist, swiveling on her heels and dragging him towards the armory to return their training equipment.
"Don't remind me."