❊

(Name)'s bones felt like rubber.

There were a few choice words she could use to describe how she was feeling, and if she hadn't been so out of it she probably would have used them. It was in all honesty, horrible. For the first two days, she slept dreamlessly, stuck in place as the Camp medics tended to her needs and made sure her fluids were up. And now that she was fully conscious, she was letting everyone know just how pissed off she was.

From the confines of a bed anyway.

"Think you're up to walking today?"

(Name) ignored the voice. She was so sleepy, why was everyone trying to annoy her?

Percy nudged her arm and she swatted him away. He nudged her again, this time on her knuckles. Even though she had her eyes closed, she could imagine that stupid, goofy look on his face.

"I knew you were awake."

"No, I'm not."

Percy poked her arm again. "Do you usually talk in your sleep?"

She cracked an eye open. "When I'm annoyed, yes."

(Name) turned to face him. Everything hurt just the slightest bit more when she moved. Sometimes when she even breathed. It stung to even blink, but she managed it slowly, memorising the outline of Percy's face in dull, blurry increments. Everything started to sharpen. She could see the colour of his eyes burning in the morning sunlight. Green and blue swirling together.

"How are you feeling?" He asked softly.

She let out a sigh, the ocean breeze caressing her slashed cheek. The ambrosia and nectar had done a good job at healing her wounds, but the bruising was still pretty bad. Blotches of skin had turned black and purple, swirling from her wrists to her elbows. Her ribs throbbed when she breathed. There was a bit of swelling around her bones but nothing more than that. She tested her wrists, rolling them gently.

"Pretty good," she croaked out. Her throat was still burning.

Percy smiled, relieved. (Name) fiddled awkwardly with the blanket draped across her lap. She was happy he was happy, but in all honesty, she didn't feel well at all.

"What..." she coughed, and it sounded so dry that Percy winced. "What happened with Clarisse?"

Percy's face fell at the mention of her. He shook his head and leant back into his chair. "They almost got expelled. Or something."

"Or something?" (Name) repeated.

"I'm not really sure how it works. It's not like Chiron can just kick them out onto the street. He'd be feeding them to the wolves. I'm sure there's some sort of punishment going on, but Chiron won't tell me what he has planned for them, but judging from his expression, it can't be anything good."

(Name) pulled the blanket off her lap in an effort to wake her legs up. "She's definitely got some psychological problems. I don't really think expelling them will do any good. What's the survival rate for demigods lost in the woods?"

Percy frowned. "Not very high. Even by Clarisse's standards."

"Speaking from experience?"

"Yup. My math teacher was a Fury."

(Name) let out a dry laugh. "I'm not even gonna ask."

"Good idea."

She swung her legs off the bed. "Okay, now help me up, dumbass."

Instead of arguing with her Percy just stuck out his hands so she could steady herself as she got to her feet. Painful tingles rippled up her ankles as she settled her weight into her feet. She gritted her teeth, sucking in a breath as the feeling started to wane. Her knees began to shake. She straightened up a bit, but her vice-like grip on his arms didn't let up. She wasn't confident enough in her knees to keep her upright yet.

Percy fidgeted, awkwardly stuck in place as she righted herself with his arms. His ADHD was suddenly going crazy. He just wanted to move, shake out whatever feeling this was, make his brain stop turning restlessly. Their eyes locked as she shifted, moving her head upwards. It was only a fraction of a second, but it felt like a lifetime. Her cheeks went hot. She ducked her head down again, staring at her arms, fingernails digging into his skin. She could feel her heart pounding.

Oh, for the love of gods. Get me out of here before I say something stupid.

Percy blinked, bewildered by her shyness. He tried to step back a bit and give her some space, but she was still too weak. She could barely hold herself up. He wasn't sure what to do, so he just stood still. A moment went by. Nothing was said. (Name) was still uneasy, letting out short, shallow breaths.

Percy's brain was overheating. He'd never been this close to her before. He could see all the little sun marks on her neck. The tiny little specks of brown in her eyes, mixing with the gold. She'd been so uptight before and now she was getting all nervous. He could feel her heartbeat thundering. Probably from getting up too quick.

"Can you stop looking at me?" She murmured quietly. Barely even above a whisper.

"O-oh." His cheeks turned a flaming red. "Sorry."

Awkward silence permeated the air.

(Name) took cautious step back. Thankfully her legs knew what they were doing now. She managed fine but Percy was still wary about her balance. He had his hands splayed on either side of her in case she fell. Like a baby learning how to walk.

"I think I'm good now."

Take the hint Percy. Please for the love of gods, take the hint!

"Oh. Y-yeah, no problem."

It went quiet again. (Name) didn't know what to say. Nothing really came to mind. She stuck, trapped between Percy and the door, watching him fidget awkwardly. It stretched on and on. (Name)'s face started to burn. She wanted to book it out the door, but she also wanted to be around Percy. Ugh. Her brain made no sense.

"Should we...do something?"

(Name) let out a nervous laugh. Was he being serious right now?

Percy's eyes swirled with confusion. "Was that funny or something?" He didn't know why she was laughing. Maybe it was because he looked stupid? Or he'd said the wrong thing?

"You are so dumb Percy Jackson."

"What?!" His face went an even brighter red. "How?!"

"You just are. It's like a state of mind. Percy = idiot." She laughed at her own joke. "But yeah, sure. I'll do something. What'd you have in mind?"

Percy's brain short-circuited. How could someone so cute be so mean?

"I hadn't really gotten that far..."

(Name) sighed. "Of course, you haven't."

"I didn't expect you to say yes! I was just trying to fill the silence."

"Well, c'mon then. Let's go do 'something'!"

Percy wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but he figured it out fairly quickly as she made a beeline for the peer.

The sea was so bright in the morning that it seemed dyed. Naiads flittered up from the surface, giggling and gurgling at the two. Percy was pretty sure they could speak multiple languages, but most of the time they communicated in weird watery noises. Probably because no one could understand them.

They sat down on the edge of the wooden perch and looked out at the horizon. Beyond the sand dunes, beyond the caves and sharp rocks, beyond the Naiads and sea life. Camp Half-Blood was home to so many vibrant ecosystems, all distinctly different from each other. It harboured so much life, so many separate families bleeding into each other. Supporting each other.

The more she saw of Camp Half-Blood the more she thought about her decision, and if it was the right one. Was it wrong to abandon all of this? She owed Chiron nothing, but there were so many innocent life forms that would suffer because of it. Could she live with that? Could she be comfortable knowing she'd condemned everything here?

The smile fell from her face. It was hard to think about. She needed more time.

The breeze played with her hair as she stared out at the horizon. The smell of the ocean was starting to mix with the strawberries. It wasn't something she'd thought she would like, but the smell was growing on her.

Percy glanced at her. He didn't want to seem creepy by staring, but he couldn't help it. She was so close to him, so comfortable in his presence. He had to look, otherwise, he was scared he'd forget this was happening.

He'd never even considered being her friend. When they'd first met, he hadn't liked her at all. Even when they first started sharing rooms, she was nothing but a hindrance. A spoiled rich girl with an uppity attitude. He wanted to laugh at the irony.

Her neck shifted the slightest bit and he immediately snapped his head away. His face was all hot. He was nervous to be so close to her without getting scolded. For looking at her and not getting glared at. For the most part, (Name) was like an angry panther, but sometimes she was a sleepy one that would roll over and let someone pet their head. Percy wondered how long that would last.

But right now, in the morning sunrise, she looked peaceful. Pretty, (he could say that in his head without getting heckled for it. Percy wasn't so sure she'd appreciate being complimented after being beaten to a pulp, especially by him).

Percy realised all too suddenly that this entire time he'd been thinking about her. Ugh. He wanted to punch himself. Thinking about a girl he'd met days ago? He was such an idiot.

"Percy, you're being so obvious."

He blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Nevermind, dumbass."

"Wha—hey!!"

~~~

"Thanks a lot, Silena, I really owe you one," (Name) said, shooting the daughter of Aphrodite a shy smile.

After the moment at the peer (Name) had showered, dressed and made her way over to the Aphrodite cabin to see what they could do about her lopsided hairdo.

People from all different cabins rushed up to her to see if she was okay. Even Annabeth gave her a sour nod of appreciation. It was a nice but unexpected change from being sneered at. It was honestly a little much. She had half the mind to be suspicious. Maybe they were just being nice because Chiron had told them to?

The Apollo kids were different. They were happy that she was feeling better because they were the ones that had taken care of her shortly after the incident. She'd even met Will Solace, the boy who'd done most of the work. He was a lot younger than her, which was surprising given his obvious gift for medicine. She tried not to judge. The social constructs of this place were already out of whack, having a ten-year-old doctor was the least of her worries.

But her idea to persuade one of the Aphrodite children into giving her a haircut actually worked. A lot of the kids she'd tried to talk to waved her off or started prattling on about hair maintenance. She wasn't exactly surprised that they were rude and snobbish. Fortunately, one of the nicer Aphrodite children who were friends with Percy agreed to help.

"Anytime! I absolutely love your hair colour," Silena gushed.

(Name) raised an eyebrow at her. "Thanks...I guess. I always thought it made me look old."

"Old?" Silena shook her head. "No way! It's so regal. Like a Finnish princess!"

She laughed. "Right. Thanks again. I really do owe you." She stood up and took one more glance at her newly trimmed hair and nodded. It now rested on her collarbones. Not a bob, but almost there.

She made her way out of the cabin and was immediately balled over by the two practically identical Hermes brothers. Not twins though. Percy had drilled that into her head.

"Nice haircut (Name)," Conner whistled, grinning and nudging his brother.

"Y-Yeah," Travis blushed. "Lookin' good."

(Name) rolled her eyes. She was about to clap back with something sarcastic when a shrill scream erupted from the Ares cabin. The two Hermes brothers blinked, their creepy smiles widening.

"What'd you do?"

Travis' eyes gleamed. "Can't say, otherwise you'd be complicit in my crime."

"Our crime," Conner corrected.

"Anway, we gotta go."

They were gone in a blur, laughing like maniacs.

"This place is insane."

(Name) took off back towards the Poseidon cabin. On the way, she spotted Annabeth reading with two of her sisters. They all had blonde hair, but they looked completely different. She didn't stop to say hello. She couldn't imagine how awkward that would be.

A couple of Apollo kids were practising their archery skills on some Satyrs who were horribly playing pan flutes. Grover was there, dodging and weaving the arrows as he stamped his hooves, playing a cute little tune that made the grass sway and the trees twist. As absurd as it was, she couldn't help but laugh. Grover waved at her as she passed but he was so distracted he didn't see her wave back.

She wandered past the Demeter cabin and two little girls in pigtails were rushing back and forth across the porch of their cabin with baskets of strawberries. (Name) liked the Demeter cabin a lot because they never had any hassle. It was just them and the land and she liked the earthiness they brought to camp, they were light-hearted and joyous.

"(Name)!"

She turned. Chiron was trotting over to her. His eyes were all scrunched up. He looked stressed.

"Hey, Chiron. What's up?"

The centaur raised an eyebrow at her. (Name)also question why she had replied with such politeness. Chiron was at the top of her black list at the moment. She shouldn't have even graced him with a response.

"I've been looking for you."

She folded her arms over her chest. "I gathered as much. What do you want?"

"It's time for you to have your prophecy told."

Her eyebrows narrowed. That didn't sound very fun. "What does that mean exactly?"

"The Oracle will tell you."

"Who?"

"Not who, what."

(Name) blinked, confused. "It's a what, or a who?"

"A who."

"Bless you!!" Someone called from the Hephaestus cabin.

(Name) shook her head. "This is ridiculous."

"Quite," Chiron agreed, smiling the slightest bit.

"So the Oracle is a person?"

"Sort of," he stroked his beard. "She once was, but now her skeleton is all that's left."

"That sounds terrifying."

"It's nothing too daunting." He reassured.

Chiron turned and made his way to the Big House. (Name) followed. Ableit a little hesitantly.

The Big House was basically one of those generic summer mansions from any kid's movie based in the 1960s. It has a massive wrap-around porch and one single window where she assumed the attic was. They make their way through the gardens, up the porch and past a bunch of scary-looking winged ladies.

Percy called them harpies, but they were basically old hags with spear-tipped wings and long, oversized arms. They squawked and snickered as the two walked past. They seemed to be cleaning the veranda with buckets of lava. (Name) would have laughed at how surreal something it was to look at if she hadn't been distracted.

"CHEATER!!!"

(Name) raised an eyebrow as they walked into a lounge room. There was a long wooden table set up with some sort of card game.

"He's worthless cheating, bastard! Utterly deranged! I refuse to accept this!" A fat, old satyr screeched. He threw his cards across the circle table.

Mr D raised an eyebrow, amused by his rage.

"What are they playing."

"Pinochle." Chiron told her.

"Pino-what?"

That caught Dionysus's attention. He turned and eyed her sceptically. She wasn't sure what kind of face she was making or what she was doing with her hands. She felt really awkward standing there not being able to move or say anything. (Name) and Dionysus hadn't officially met yet, but she had the feeling that he already disliked her.

"Along with gladiator fighting and Pac-man, Pinochle is, unfortunately, one of the best games humans have ever created," Mr D said as he continued to shuffle the cards. Chiron turned towards the table and gestured for Dionysus to deal him some cards.

"Cretinous! A rematch, I declare a rematch!" The satyr yelled.

"Silence now." Mr D snickered, clicking his fingers. The satyr disappeared in a plum of smoke. "Such volatile youths," he soughed wistfully.

(Name) shuffled awkwardly next to Chiron. Mr D shuffled the cards and started another round. Chiron seemed to be pretty good and pinochle.

"You're quite the hassle (Name) Flora," he finally said. "Chiron has been running amuck for you."

(Name) narrowed her eyes at him. That wasn't even her name.

"Being the centre of this prophecy has caused quite a ruckus on Olympus. Some are delighted in your arrival. Others...the smarter few, feel threatened."

"I'm assuming you're in the smart category?"

He took a sip of his diet Coke. "But you are correct."

"I don't understand. I'm the least threatening person here."

"Mortals really do know nothing," he sighed. "Hestia is inspirited at your return, but Athena and Hephaestus are quite indifferent. New things, different things, scare the Gods. They are bound by tradition. Your return hastens Hades' retaliation."

"Retaliation? I've never even met the guy!"

"Gods see everything, silly girl."

"Well, if he can see everything I'm doing then he should know I'm not a threat!" Flunking every class Camp Half-Blood threw at her was enough evidence already. "If he hates me so much why is he hiding away in his stupid underground palace? What's he so afraid of?!"

Dionysus took another sip. "Good question."

"His actions are quite the enigma," Chiron told her. "Trying to make sense of it will only exhaust your patience."

Dionysus scowled and took another sip of his diet coke. "I suppose you're right." Dionysus relented and flipped his cards over. The two other invisible opponents folded under the heat. He formed another pair after that.

"Something else of note," Chiron interrupted. "Someone has been trying to communicate with (Name) in her dreams."

"Not trying," she corrected. "They did. Two people actually."

"They've spoken to you?" Chiron seemed shocked.

"Yeah. And how do you even know about that?"

"One of the campers, a child of Hypnos. He sensed something dark coming from Percy's cabin during the night. He thought nothing of it, until the darkness moved to the medical bay."

The cloud of confusion cleared from (Name)'s head. "Where I've been spending most of my time."

"Correct."

"Howodd," Dionysus sighed. He clearly couldn't care less. He'd probably heard the same story a hundred million times. "Some dark entity is trying to communicate with you. Probably Hades. He can be such a drag sometimes."

"She must go on a quest," Chiron said, ignoring his melodrama."

"And you want people to go with her?"

Chiron nodded. "Annabeth Chase, Grover Underwood and Percy Jackson,"

Mr D glowered. "Peter Johnson. That boy, I could just click my fingers and turn him to dust."

"That's against camp rules," Chiron chastised. "Unless you want to be here for another 100 years?"

Dionysus shuddered. "Spontaneous combustion doesn't hurt. I promise. Besides, only three are allowed per quest. Why break tradition for a silly little girl with a silly little haircut?"

(Name)'s face went hot and she stared at the floor, embarrassed.

"She needs to see the Oracle," Chiron said, giving (Name) a stray glance.

"The Oracle?"

"Yes."

"Yes, sir." Dionysus corrected.

(Name) wanted to punch him in his stupid button nose.