This chapter is 2465 words and I am way too lazy to edit it, so here *throws my unedited writing at you*
I walked up the beach, heading for the center of camp, the Big House. I knew I needed to tell Chiron we were back with an extra.
I climbed the front steps of the pale blue house, Nico right behind me and Peyton kind of lagging behind, a lost look on his face. Leading our trio to Chiron's door, I started to become nervous, bouncing on the balls of my feet anxiously. Nico rested a cold hand on my shoulder, silently telling me to take a chill pill. I took a deep breath and pushed open the door to his office, not bothering to knock since I had figured out a while ago he didn't care if campers barged in, unlike a certain wine god. As the door swung open, Chiron looked up from his desk, where he was seated in his wheelchair, his normally warm eyes cold and calculating. I gulped. We were so screwed. I was an idiot for thinking I could lie to Chiron, even if it wasn't a complete lie, thanks to Nico. The activities director had a way of knowing everything. We silently took the seats in front of his desk.
"You lied and went to the Underworld. Another camper got hurt because of your actions. Then you went to the other side of the country and brought back a mortal? Mira, I know you're new to the demigod life style but this is not what we do. And Nico, you should know better than this. And now we have to wipe this mortal's memory and send him back, which is inconvenient for everyone," Chiron scolded, his eyes and voice completely void of emotion. I wanted to correct him, saying I hadn't lied, but that wasn't entirely true, because at the time I had planned on it being a lie, but Nico shook his head at me, knowing what I was thinking and warning me against it. But I wasn't done.
"His name is Peyton Messford and he's not a-" I began but was cut off.
"Neither of you will not be allowed to participate in capture the flag and-" he continued when I opened my mouth to protest, giving me a stern look, "you, Mira, will be on kitchen patrol for a month." I cringed. Lava made me skittish, it being my opposite and all.
"Don't you think you're being a bit harsh?" Peyton suddenly piped up, his eyes narrowed. My own eyes widened as I shook my head at him, but he either didn't see me or ignored me. He was going to make this worse.
Chiron's eyes shifted from Nico and I to Peyton, and I saw an expression I'd never thought I'd see on him: anger. And let me tell you, an angry Chiron is scary.
"Isn't camp for camp activities? Like, don't take my word for it, but if I even have a bit of smarts in me, it'd be for what camp implies," he continued, not getting the hint that he should shut up. "To take away capture the flag, you lose more than able kids with amazing abilities, leaders within the fight to take the flag back."
Suddenly Chiron's expression changed, his arms crossed and amused smile settled upon his lips. "And you know what capture the flag here at Camp Half Blood tests?" He challenged. "You've just arrived, you have a lot to learn, Peyton Messford."
Peyton leaned forward, a grin upon his face, "I have, but of course a game at this camp is dangerous, yeah? Who wouldn't have fun hacking at another till they're at their knees? These two need their strength, no matter how strong, no matter how weak. Everyone needs to improve their strength to be a bit of a help within a war that you may not know of."
Chiron sat back in his chair, eyes trained on the vitiligo child's as they held a silent argument that Nico and I were left out of. "Said like a true Victor," Chiron said with an approving nod, breaking the silence. He then stood, releasing his horse half from the wheelchair, to shake Peyton's hand. Peyton stared at Chiron's lower half as they shook hands and I sniggered, glancing at Nico. He rolled his eyes.
"Grow up," he mumbled, knowing exactly why I was laughing. I shook my head, grinning childishly.
"Yo... are you messing with me?" Peyton questioned, looking at us. I shrugged while Nico shook his head. Peyton sat back down, mumbling to himself, "I'm going to have to get used to this kind of stuff, aren't I?" Chiron gave a loud belly laugh, nodding at the confused boy. Peyton seemed to get lost in thought as Chiron turned to us once more.
"Thanks to this mortal you two are reinstated for capture the flag. I believe the Hades and Poseidon cabins are on the same team, yes? The ballistas have been repaired, you can use them for the upcoming game. Talk to the Hephaestus cabin about Greek fire," Chiron informed with a smile.
As he finished I blurted, "Poseidon called him a child of Nike." I let out a sigh of relief, finally able to get that out. That seemed to shake Peyton out of his thoughts as his head snapped to me. Chiron's eyebrows rose and a thoughtful look came over his face.
"We'll see," he said, slight doubt in his voice. I glanced at Peyton, who seemed confused and pissed all at once, then zoned out once again. "I suppose he'll stay in the Hermes cabin until he's claimed. Hopefully we'll know tonight at the campfire."
"I can show him there," I offered, shooting a smirk at Nico who seemed anxious to get out of there. He smiled gratefully, obviously fighting the urge to roll his eyes at my silent teasing. Chiron nodded in acceptance to my offer. Nico stood up with a sigh and left the office, taking the silence as a chance to leave. As he left he shot a glare at Peyton, silently warning him not to follow. I almost laughed. I had figured out that Nico was headed to the infirmary, as he spent a good amount of his time at camp there. I left the dracaena weapon in Chiron's office, figuring he had some use for it, seeing as I didn't, and Peyton and I took our leave.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I gave Peyton a quick tour of the camp on our way to the Hermes cabin, pointing out the general area of all the important things such as the dining pavilion. I also explained what claiming was and how he wasn't claimed yet.
"You're staying here for the meantime," I said, stopping in front of the Hermes cabin. The door swung open and the Stoll brothers emerged. I wasn't in the mood for their teasing right now, so I turned and left quickly, strolling across the green to my cabin. I hadn't seen Percy yet, and I was reminded that he had no idea where I actually went, since I'd kept him in the dark about it, saying I just had to handle some things. I wasn't really looking forward to explaining it.
I pushed open the door and to my great disappointment, Percy was inside, stretched across his bed. Don't get me wrong, I was glad to see him, but I was fairly certain he was going to be mad.
When he heard the door creak open, Percy turned to the door, a smile across his face, making me inwardly cringe.
"Mira! Where have you been, kiddo?" He asked, rolling off the bed and pulling me into a hug.
"Um... The Underworld, Florida, back to the Underworld, and then Seattle," I answered, my voice barely above a whisper. I felt Percy stiffen before he pulled back, putting his hands on my shoulders and holding me at arms length as he looked into my eyes, trying to determine if I was joking. Obviously I wasn't and he could tell.
"Wait, what? The Underworld? Seattle? As in Washington?!" he questioned. I nodded. His eyebrows furrowed. "Sit," he ordered, pointing to my bed. I sat lightly on the edge, him sitting across from me. "Spill." I took a deep breath.
"I went to the Underworld to yell at Hades," I rushed.
"You WHAT?!" Percy shouted, causing me to flinch away. "Mira that's idiotic! He could've made you a permanent resident right then and there!"
"He didn't, okay?! And at least then I would've been with Jake!" I yelled back. Percy seemed taken aback momentarily before his face morphed into a scowl.
"We don't get to go on suicide missions because we lose someone, Mira," he growled.
"It wasn't a suicide mission!" I protested. Percy raised an eyebrow disbelievingly and I dropped my gaze to my lap. That wasn't convincing, even to me. Maybe it had been a suicide mission. I was completely prepared to die. I didn't realize I was crying until water hit my hand. I blinked, confused, and brought my hands up to my face. I quickly wiped the tear trails from my cheeks before feeling arms wrap around me once more. In my emotional moment I hadn't realized Percy had moved from his position to right next to me.
"I'm sorry," he apologized quietly.
"No, don't apologize, you're right... Maybe I did want to die," I muttered. Percy's expression changed once again, this time from apologetic to concerned.
"Do you need to talk to someone about this?" He asked gently, as if he was afraid to break me. I shook my head.
"No, I'm okay. I realize I was wrong now. I've still got a lot left to live for," I assured him. He nodded as the dinner horn sounded.
"Shall we?" he asked, gesturing towards the door. I nodded and we stood, leaving the cabin and heading to the dining pavilion, swept along with the other campers.
We sat down at the Poseidon table just in time for Chiron's mini-speech. He gave the usual speech, reminding us not to sit at any other cabin's tables, and a few couples quickly split up, causing me to chuckle softly. I quickly sobered up as he got to everyone's least favorite part of the speech: the deaths. Luckily, there had only been one death today but it was still sad. Everyone was a family here at camp, and when one of us died, all of us were effected.
Finally Chiron reached the end of his speech and introduced Peyton, who jumped up, waving and grinning. I rolled my eyes, muttering under my breath.
"Peyton, you idiot."
"You know the new kid?" Percy inquired as Peyton was pulled back into his seat and Chiron finished his speech. I nodded.
"I was the one who brought him back," I shrugged, focusing on my plate and thinking about two pieces of pizza and root-beer, one of my favorite lazy day meals.
"Okay you need to explain what happened after the Underworld," Percy laughed as we got up and walked to the brazier. I threw in a slice of pizza and Percy scraped in some of his meal (some blue thing? Percy's eating habits were still strange to me) before we both sat back down, digging in. I finished half my pizza before starting my story.
"Well, Nico was with me, which is how we got there, and since I had told Chiron I was going to see my mom, he didn't want me to be a liar so we went to Florida," I paused, seeing Percy shudder, probably at some memory of my home state. "He crashed on the couch as I caught up with my mom and when he was all good we left. But y'know, two big three kids together attracts monsters and we got cornered by a dracaena. Nico got hurt protecting me, and there was some poison on the blade, so he was down for the count. I killed it and managed to get Nico to shadow travel again, but we didn't make it all the way through and ended up in the Underworld again. We ran into Mrs. O'Leary, and she got us out but somehow we ended up in Seattle, in his backyard," I recounted, gesturing to Peyton. "I got him to drive us to the beach and dad showed up, healed Nico, and took us here," I finished, feeling out of breath. Percy stared at me for a moment before laughing.
"Wow, we Poseidon kids have some rotten luck. At least now I know I'm not the only one," he guffawed. I rolled my eyes, eating the last of my pizza.
"Yeah, well, I guess I was a bit lucky to run into him," I nodded in Peyton's direction. "Probably would still be stuck in Seattle with a dead Nico without him."
"Guess I have to like him for saving my little sis," Percy grinned, hugging me to his side.
"Percy~" I whined, pushing him off me. He pouted playfully.
"Aw, you don't love me anymore?" He sniffled.
"No, no, of course I do," I backpedaled, hugging him, causing him to laugh again.
Dinner ended shortly later, Percy and I being some of the last to leave, since we were catching up. Before we knew it, it was time for the campfire, and we headed to the amphitheater. As we sat down, Annabeth slipped away from the rest of her cabin and joined us, snuggling into Percy's side. I felt kind of like a third wheel, but smiled anyways. They were cute. I listened to the other campers sing, and I would've joined, but I still didn't know the words and I didn't want to accidentally use my siren's call thing. My gaze was drawn to a bright gold light, emanating from something other than the campfire. I squinted my eyes to see Peyton through the light.
"A child of Nike!" I heard two female voices chime. I grinned at Chiron triumphantly, 'told ya' written all over my face. He shook his head after meeting my eyes, turning to smile gently at Peyton, and gesturing for two girls, I guess his new siblings, to approach. They looked similar to him, minus the vitiligo and carefree look. They both had his wide shoulders and large eyes but both of them seemed stiff, eyes stern and standing straight. Too proper for my liking. But other than that, they could be triplets. I was pretty sure the two girls were twins, actually. They sat together for the rest of the campfire and left together when it was over, probably to get Peyton situated in his new home.
Percy and Annabeth kissed each other goodnight before he joined me in my walk back to our cabin. We went through our nearly identical nightly routine and rolled into bed. I was asleep before I even finished saying goodnight.