Lexi's POV
KNOCK KNOCK
I got up reluctantly from my beanbag, paused Call of Duty and answered the door to my room.
"What did you do to him?"
Luke was standing there, looking at me in way that made me uneasy. I could see disappointment and anger in his face, as though I'd hurt his feelings.
"What are you talking about?" I answered, slightly cautiously under his gaze. "Who are you talking about?"
"It's been three days, Lex." Luke sighed, covering his face with his hands. "He hasn't slept, he hasn't eaten, he hasn't even left his room. What did you do?"
I was shocked to hear that Percy hadn't eaten anything in three days. He was obviously way more cut up about what I said than I thought. I almost felt guilty, but pushed it back down at once. It was Percy's fault.
"I didn't do anything!" I protested. "I bet he's just working on a new project again. You remember that time he was working on a water teleporter? He didn't come out of his room then, either. And you know we can go without sleep for weeks."
"Yeah, but not without food! You know for a fact how fast his metabolism is. He should be eating more often than us, not less." Luke was pale and I could see his eyes were bloodshot.
"What have you been doing all night?" I asked, half in concern but also to change the subject. "You look terrible."
"Oh, nothing. Nothing except hammering on Percy's door all night trying to get him to eat, or even see someone!" Luke shouted. "Nico's depressed about Will and Percy's depressed about you. All you do is sit around and pretend nothing is happening while I'm the one left to babysit them, try to get them to talk or eat or do anything at all except stare at the ceiling all day. I'm the one left to try to persuade Will to come to his senses and get back together with Nico, but I didn't bother with you."
"Why not?" I asked, almost hurt.
"Because you are one of the most stubborn people I know, Lex. Yes, you are one of my best friends and I wouldn't give you up for the world, but when you find the smallest possible problem you latch onto it and create a huge issue." Luke looked at me and I could tell he was being completely honest. "Remember that time you wouldn't speak to Nico for two months because he used your favorite sword for practice, didn't damage it and then polished and sharpened it afterwards?"
I remembered how angry I'd been, even though my sword hadn't cut so well in years.
"I'm very possessive, Luke. I admit that. I hate when people use or change something that's mine. It's mine, not theirs and I don't like them touching it. It's just... eeuugh. Weird. I'm sorry for leaving you to do all the work but I didn't want to talk to Percy. I was afraid he'd never say anything to me again."
Luke looked at me for a second, and then turned and walked away without a word.
Was I too immature? Was I not supposed to make a joke out of it?
I sat down on my bed slowly and put my head in my hands.
I had issues.
***
Luke's POV
After I'd talked to Lexi I ran back to the kitchen.
Shit.
My breakfast muffins were burning.
Ok, ok. You don't need to tease me, I like cooking. I don't know, when you're making cakes or pies or whatever, I like the feeling. It's just...nice.
After I'd rescued my muffins (just) I set six trays. I put muffins, toast and glasses of water on four for Percy, Lexi, Nico and Nicolas, who was living with us. Then I put some meat on another for Adalind and then some turnips for Bernard. Don't ask, but Percy insists he only eats turnips, so...
I carried all of the trays to each room, knocking on the doors. Well, some of them. I didn't really feel like talking to any of the Chaos warriors so I ended up talking to a telekhine, a dragon and a half god half titan instead. My life is weird.
After cleaning the kitchen up, checking the security levels, sharpening the swords in the weapons room and getting a reluctant Bernard to sleep, I finally stumbled into bed, exhausted. I'd completely forgotten to fix a plate for myself.
***
It had been a week since Dionysus collapsed. We didn't know if this meant another attack, as Dionysus hadn't sired any children, even after he'd been released from his curse. He'd been a bit traumatized by his experience with Zeus after he chased that nymph, which I thought was a bit stupid.
After all, his punishment had been to be camp director, but he'd chosen to keep the job even after he'd been released from his curse. I heard this wasn't a great decision according to the campers, as Dionysus could now drink his own brew, and spent most of the day - well - brewing in it.
The chaos warriors were all very concerned about a possible attack, as the collapse of a God was definitely a sure sign. But another whole week flew by, and though we doubled security and increased patrols, there was no whisper of a disturbance.
So, when we weren't patrolling or going over plans, we just moped around the Chaos cabin in our pajamas and did our own thing. Well, everyone except me. I was stuck with the cooking, the cleaning, taking care of Adalind and Bernard and making sure all our weapons, traps and security was in a stable condition.
Luckily, none of the other warriors noticed me doing this, which I was thankful for. It was a lot of hassle to do all the work and I didn't want the others feeling guilty. They were so miserable I didn't think they'd be much help anyway.
Though I cleaned all the bedrooms, I barely ever saw Nicolas anywhere. My only conclusion was that he was always training or actually getting on with camp life. Well, one less mouth for me to feed.
Lexi, however, was not moping. She was determinedly getting on with her job of training the younger campers, and under her watchful gaze she had Saven shooting bulls-eyes within a fortnight.
It had been two weeks since Dionysus collapsed, and the chaos warriors met in the lounge for a meeting run by Lexi.
"So," She began, walking up and down, "We have had many attacks over the last two months."
I realized with a jolt that we'd been at camp for two months. It felt like years and I couldn't wait to get back to Chaos' planet and out of this mess.
"We have concluded that these attacks are all linked to a God or Goddess. We are safe to assume that these Gods or Goddesses are all Olympians, apart from Hades, who is however still part of the big three. To help us prepare for future battles, I recommend we write down a list of the Olympians, cross out the ones we have already battled with and examine who we have left in order to help us prepare."
I looked around the lounge. Nico was fast asleep, his head resting on the arm of his chair, his eyes wide open. Nico sleeps with his eyes open, it's creepy. He trained himself to do it so he could watch out for attack or, in my case, a bucket of icy water, custard or some other substance that I was going to pour over his head.
I smiled, remembering the time I'd drawn on his face, turned his clothes bracelets pink and woken him up with a spider down his shirt all in one night. The way he squealed...
"Luke! Are you listening? Is anyone listening?" came Lexi's exasperated voice. I woke from my reminiscence with a start and stared straight at her, my eyes wide open with fake interest and my hands clasped in my lap, leaning forward eagerly.
She rolled her eyes and left the room. A second later, Nico awoke with a start as a screeching sound met our ears, followed by the sight of Lexi re-entering the room, dragging a whiteboard with her.
"Are you serious?"
Lexi glared at me. "Of course I'm serious, Luke! This is real, you know."
Once the whiteboard was finally in the middle of the room, Lexi pulled out what looked like a conductor's baton from inside her jacket and whacked it against the board. Everyone jumped.
I squinted at the board, reading what Lexi had written.
HADES - CONFIRMED - NO DEATHS
ZEUS
POSEIDON
HERA
DEMETER - CONFIRMED - KATIE GARDNER
HERMES - CONFIRMED - TRAVIS STOLL
APOLLO
ARTEMIS
DIONYSUS - UNCONFIRMED?
ARES - CONFIRMED - CLARISSE LA RUE
APHRODITE - CONFIRMED - CHLOE REESE
HEPHAESTUS
ATHENA
I felt my heart sink when I saw Chloe's name in the list. I hadn't even known her last name until now.
"There are to many Gods left." Nico stated. "We can't figure out a stronger strategy that'll work against all of them, that's impossible."
It was true. But, wait...
"Hey, How do we know the recent attack was Ares and not Dionysus? It seemed to drive people mad, didn't it? And now Dionysus has collapsed. Surely that means it was him?" I asked curiously.
"Because, Luke," Lexi began, "The attack didn't drive the campers mad. They were still talking sense and they kept saying what everyone else had done to drive them to attack. It just filled them with immeasurable anger, which we know Ares does to people. It's in his aura."
"Plus, as soon as a member of the Ares cabin died, the attacks stopped. What does that tell us?"
"I guess..." I conceded defeat. "But then why has Dionysus collapsed?"
"My guess is because he has no children here, there's no-one to attack, so the force behind this attacked the God himself." Lexi finished.
"Or maybe they're targeting the original olympians?" I asked. "So Hestia, instead of Dionysus?"
"Maybe... That's actually a good idea, Luke!" Lexi sounded so shocked that I actually had something relevant to contribute that I scowled.
"Wow. I... I... I think I have a brain!" I muttered sarcastically, slumping back in my armchair huffily.
Lexi pulled out a pen and wrote,
HESTIA???
At the bottom of the board.
Lexi started dragging the board to the corner of the room, where everyone could see it and have access to it so we could plan. Once she had done this, she left the room swiftly, determinedly not meeting the sea-green gaze following her hopefully.
Once she had left the room, Percy got up, still in his 'Chaos' number 1 boy' pajamas, and left dejectedly, obviously following the familiar path to his room, where he would spend the next three days staring at the ceiling and not answering the door.
*******
Lexi's POV
I left the lounge in a rush, careful not to look at Percy. I had made it out, I'd said what I'd wanted to say and I hadn't had to answer Percy's usually frequent questions. I was thankful.
Or was I?
Luke said that Percy hadn't spoken in two weeks. I thought it was ridiculous. I mean, I'd been in love with Percy for much longer than he'd been in love with me, and I was up and about as normal. Was it a human thing? I dunno.
Percy was obviously miserable, but what could I do about it? The only thing I could do was help the camp. That was what we'd been sent down here for anyway, right?
But I hadn't been sent down at all. It'd been Percy who fetched me from training the army in the first place because he thought he needed my help.
Well, with Percy and Nico lazing around all day, (lazing? Is that a word?) I just had to step it up, and so did Luke.
I found Luke halfway through cleaning the ground floor toilet. I tapped him on the shoulder gently and he turned around, nearly hitting me in the head with the plunger he was holding.
"Hey Luke, can I talk to you?"
"Sure, I guess."
Luke came out of the toilet and walked over to a corner. I followed.
"Listen Luke, I was thinking that with everyone else not doing anything, it's our job to pick up the slack. We have to work extra hard to make sure we don't - "
"Are you serious? You are talking to me about picking up the slack? What do you think I've been doing over the past fortnight? Nothing but running around, looking for slack to pick up! I've been cooking, cleaning, sharpening weapons, making strategies, coming up with further ideas, taking care of Adalind and Bernard, trying to get Percy and Nico to talk, attempting to persuade Will to get back together with Nico, even training some of the campers that Percy and Nico left when I've got a sliver of time!" He counted on his fingers, gesturing wildly to illustrate his frustration.
"You can't talk to me about making a bigger effort because I can't physically make any bigger of an effort." He said. "So if you see some slack I've missed, pick it up yourself."
With that, he strode back into the toilet and slammed the door behind him. A second later I heard the sounds of a plunger being pulled.
***
I walked away, feeling slightly stupefied. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed all of the things Luke'd been doing. Well, I'd just have to persuade the others to get off their lazy arses, starting with Percy.
Striding up the stairs to Percy's room, I hammered on the door. I'd never been in this room before.
"Percy, I know you're in there, let me in."
There was no answer. I tried twice more, nothing.
Quietly, I gently tried the doorknob. The door was open. I swung it free and walked inside.
To my surprise, Percy was in there. He was sitting at his desk, holding a large black notebook. I'd seen him carrying that thing around a lot before, but I'd never seen what he wrote in it.
My stomach gave a familiar jolt when I saw him get up from his chair and stretch his arms up over his head, his wings stretching with him so the tips just brushed the ceiling. His hair was ruffled in just the right way, like he'd just rolled out of bed. I wouldn't be surprised.
I then realized, with another jolt, that he hadn't seen me come in. His back was now facing me, and he continued to write in his notebook with a red pencil.
Wait, a red pencil?
I then realized he wasn't writing at all. He was drawing, with a red prismacolor, his hand making fluid lines across the page.
I looked around more closely. All around the room were stacks of pencils and paints, jugs of paintbrushes and in the corner a stack of clean canvases.
It wasn't a notebook. It was -
"A sketchbook." I said, out loud. Percy spun around, staring at me in shock.
"How did you get in here?" Percy asked, hiding the sketchbook under a sheaf of papers on his desk.
"Erm, through the door, I guess." I said, nodding at the open door.
"Dam. I obviously didn't lock it. Ok, you can leave now - "
"Why couldn't you sense me in here?" I asked. It was a reasonable question.
"Jeez, Lex! Maybe because I hadn't been expecting someone to just barge in without invitation! Can you leave now?"
"What were you drawing?" I asked, and Percy froze.
"Why do you want to know?" He looked at me, and this time I didn't look away.
"Because I didn't know you drew. Or painted, for that matter."
I looked around the walls, where several canvases were displayed, including one of a beautiful mountain scene. The attention to detail was breathtaking and I was kicking myself for never having noticed Percy's skill.
"Are you serious? You're biting my head off about not knowing you properly, and you're saying you've never noticed me drawing? I've literally asked you to stand still so I can draw you before! And now you're in my room, another thing you yelled at me for, and asking to see my personal things, which you didn't like me doing either!"
"At least I'm asking! I retaliated heatedly.
"You obviously came in here thinking I wasn't in here because I didn't answer the door. So, you're telling me that if I wasn't in here and you saw my sketchbook lying open on the table, you wouldn't go and check it out?"
I was silent at this. He had a point.
With a sigh, Percy turned back to his drawing and picked up his pencil.
"But wait, can't I just - "
"Get out." Percy muttered, softly but not quietly enough that I didn't hear it.
I didn't need telling twice. I swiftly exited, closing the door behind me.
As soon as it was closed, I slid down it, putting my head in my arms and trying to hold onto the memory of Percy looking at me before it faded away.
Hi Peoples!
Ok, there was a lot of ranting in this chapter. I enjoy ranting...
I'm sorry this chapter is so late but I've been really busy cleaning out my room, which was not a pleasant experience.
I'm hoping to update more frequently now as the holidays kick in, but the updates might be a bit shorter than usual.
THANK YOU FOR ALL THE VIEWS!
I saw that Chapter 1 has 2.2k views alone, that's amazing guys.
Please keep this in your libraries, I really appreciate the support.
Cheers,
Catgirl xxx