— 05
❝ i feel nervous in a way that can't be named ❞ — the end of love ; florence + the machine
i stare at my chicken and waffles. then my apple juice. then inevitably, aspen. i hate how beautiful he is. being a child of aphrodite, he was born to be beautiful.
however, he was also born a shitty fighter, and he has about zero upper body strength compared to me. but gods he is handsomely tall. i remember i used to love how much of a height difference we had.
i look back at my waffles. then i go to look for something else to stare at, and find percy.
he's talking to grover and juniper. quite honestly one of the cutest couples here, although they're barely at camp anymore. being a saytr and nymph, they do love traveling and exploring.
i guess juniper catches me staring at percy and turns their conversation towards me.
i blush when the two males look over, me being embarrassed to have gotten caught.
i wave "hi" but return to my waffle staring. i decide against eating it and sacrifice it all to my mother. i hope she has a really good day.
at least someone deserves happiness.
i walk out towards gina, who's sharpening her daggers.
she says hello to me before returning. i pull out my own defense mechanism, a medium sized sword with an intricate carving at the hilt. the carving is of a lotus flower.
i never really looked into greek lotus flowers much, but once gina told me that they came into play with odysseus' journey.
something about his crew being,"stupid stupids and eating things when they weren't supposed to."
her words.
"i think that by the end of summer we both need to actually do something great." gina randomly speaks.
"maybe i'll get over aspen, that's my only goal my friend."
"no. no it's not. you should aim for something that outlives you."
"okay hardass, i'll try."
she smiles.
we both talk a while longer before we realize we have things to do.
gina runs off the help the the ares kids set up tonight's camp game.
i head over to the stables to prepare for winged horseback riding. i don't know how but i ended up being the one with stable duty. stupid nico.
i successful get each small camper on a pegasus and flying. then, i have to start cleaning the stables. the sheer amount of shit i'm scooping should be a crime.
i'm halfway done before a thin red headed girl rushes in.
"um, hi?" i say.
"maia?" she asks, out of breath.
i recognize her as rachel dare, the oracle. she's been pretty unsuccessful with the whole oracle thing ever since apollo went missing.
"yeah, are you looking for percy because-" but before i can finish her eyes turn a supernatural color of green.
she looks possessed.
just as she begins talking, more people burst into the stables.
rachel begins, "in the birthplace of beauty, three demigods shall meet with the typhon
find loves in the five sacred looking glasses
one must break the fixed point, they must kill a part of them
find the true looking glass, or perish."
then she collapses.
will runs over and catches her before she hits her head.
i survey the room, and see chiron, will, percy, grover, and nico.
"um, what do i do?" i ask, genuinely baffled. i've never had a prophecy directed at me.
chiron frowns at me and then turns to grover.
"i told you she had a prophecy brewing, man." grover shrugs.
"i really didn't want to go on a quest this summer." percy sighs.
"wait, hold on. who said you had anything to do with my prophecy? you don't have to go— enjoy a summer off percy." i say, eyebrows furrowed.
"maia, in all fairness you've never done something like this. and 'the birthplace of beauty?' that's talking about where aphrodite was born. that's greece, not long island." nico reasons.
"but shouldn't i choose who i want on my quest? i don't want percy going, he just fought gaea." i huff looking at chiron.
"you can pick, but one person has to be a child of aphrodite."
i freeze, "then i choose piper, she's the only aphrodite kid that's been on a quest."
"piper's with her dad in canada, that won't work." grover explains.
"well then who?" i ask, locking eyes with percy.
he looks like he's figured something out before sighing and looking at everyone.
"what about aspen kennedy?" he asks.
i tense. gods no, i was trying to avoid that. why would he suggest that?
chiron looks pleased.
"he's been on quests before, i would think he's the right choice. maia?"
i feel like crying and screaming. this isn't what i want, but i can't deny that aspen is the perfect choice. he's the only other aphrodite kid who's been on a successful quest.
i nod plainly.
"okay, good. now, let's try to figure out this prophecy." grover says, throwing an arm over me and leading us out of the stables.