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Something that made camp so enjoyable was the fact that its whole philosophy was based on the differences of its campers. You could meet an array of kids that were all connected but yet so individualistic.

A decent amount of the demigods stuck to their siblings in their own cabins, but Drea had befriended different campers from a variety of cabins. It almost confused her why people didn't branch out more because she'd collected her own little gems that were now family from different cabins.

Obviously, Grover had been the one to escort Drea to camp, so they were connected in a sense that nobody else could understand. Grover had previously guided Luke, Annabeth, and Thalia, but it was just them two. It was a bond fused between the traumatic experience of fighting to get to camp. It would take a nuclear explosion and the destruction of man kind to bring them apart.

He eased her into the world of the olympians, leading her to Luke, and in turn Annabeth. Drea's time in the Hermes cabin was a month long and it made her wonder if her father would ever acknowledge her. Luke calmed her worries. Seeing the anxious and confused mess she was, he stepped in. Being freshly away from her older brother, it was comforting to have that figure back in her life.

Whilst testing her weaknesses and strengths, Drea was trying to meld 2 metals with one another and failing miserably. Owen Tsu, only 11 at the time, was also new to camp but skilled when working with stainless steel. He offered to help her in the middle of melting down nickel. Drea clung to him from there on out.

Both of them being newer made it easier to relate to their experiences. There was a point in time where she even wondered (and hoped) if they could be siblings, but that idea was discarded once she broke a box full of heat guns while trying to mold a sword.

From there, Luke taught her basic combat tactics and self defense. They sparred regularly and Drea had been making immense progress. During a session that had garnered attention from a large crowd of half-bloods was when she was claimed. She'd finally defeated Luke, best swordsman in camp, when a glowing ray beamed atop her head.

Being thrown into her designated cabin brought her to her sister, Sylvia. She took Drea in with grace and helped her to find solace in a very difficult to understand situation. In doing so, she accidentally built a false narrative about their father. She created this idea in Drea's that he was a perfect father, because for Sylvia, he was.

Sylvia was a favorite child of Apollo's but you'd be able to guess that just by looking at her. She basically radiated a golden aura.

When she was with Sylvia, she felt special. Sylvia had a knack for all the skills you'd expect of an Apollo child, especially music. Drea learned through Syl that she was quite good at poetry. She was happy that she had taught Drea about a new talent of her's, but also upset that it seemed to be the only skill she had relating her to her father.

Drea learned the hard truth relatively quick how little her father cared for her. He wasn't known as being a bad father, rather one that was more compassionate. So why wasn't he there? Why did he never speak to her or even pretend to care? Drea hated the feeling of being unwanted.

This enabled her to bond with a beloved girl, Irene. Irene was a beautiful daughter to Aphrodite. She emitted a comforting energy that drew in Drea like a dim coldness to a warm light. They shared secrets, had sleepovers that were forbidden under Chiron's rules, and giggled like childish toddlers at the littlest things.

But they bonded so well because Irene was also lost in her relationship with her mother. She loved her, but she could never come close in comparison to her other siblings. Unlike her siblings, she developed tiny crushes that were meaningless in the end. But Aphrodite kids were known for being heart breakers, not being heartbroken.

In time, Drea vowed to keep her head up instead of beating herself up about her father and make him proud. The immediate conclusion she came to was to go on a quest. Annabeth had already devised the same plan, so their joint dream was to venture onto a successful quest that would ensure Annabeth's glory and give Apollo no choice but to see Drea.

Her family was unconventional, but perfect.

But as of recently, Luke had been disappearing. Not for long, but for extended periods of time he would be gone from camp or hidden in the woods. He claimed he was out doing something for Chiron but it made no sense. Drea trusted him more than anything so she never outwardly doubted him.

Yet, the more it happened, the more Drea was desperate to find out what he was doing. Did it have something to do with the supposed war on the horizon? Every camper knew something was up but Chiron wouldn't confirm anything.

She only hoped Luke knew what he was doing and that he would be okay.

ϟ

Following the morning of Percy getting settled in, the Hermes cabin was filled to the brim even more than usual as both Owen and Drea were sitting amongst Luke, Chris, and other fellow Hermes children.

"Okay but that's because you totally suck at defense! You're so reckless all you know is how to attack." Owen opposed in a petty discussion.

"Hasn't been a problem so far has it? You've gone down every single match." Chris mocked.

"Have not. Remember?" He reminded Chris of the recent loss of his when he had to surrender.

"You know that's only because I was there, right?" Drea felt complied to refresh his memory on why he had actually won against Chris in the first place.

The small group began to snicker as Owen stuttered over his words in laughter to defend himself. Meanwhile, a sudden gasp of surprise could be heard from across the cabin. All eyes landed on Percy who seemed to be waking from a nightmare in his sleeping bag.

Luke stood in concern, "You okay?"

"Super." Percy answered.

Drea rolled her eyes. This kid never seemed to turn off the switch in his brain of sarcasm.

"We all have them, you know. Intense, reoccurring nightmares. That's normal here." Luke clicked his tongue while trying to assure Percy while he rolled off the floor.

"And the daydreams, and the ADHD, and dyslexia. Demigods just process reality differently than humans do."

"Speak for yourself." Drea joked while approaching to two standing together.

"For the first time in your life, you're just like
everyone else." Luke scoffed at her.

"So are you also.. do you not know who your.."

"Am I unclaimed? No, Hermes is my father."  Luke seemed to speak with spite in his voice but washed it away before responding, "That doesn't matter, we're all on the same team here."

"Why is that okay? Why do they get to bring us here just to ignore some of us?"

"Spend too much time trying to figure out why the gods do whatever it is they do, you'll drive yourself crazy."

"I'll say." Owen piped in from behind.

"Sooner you stop worrying about that, the sooner you can enjoy what this place actually does offer."

"What's that?"

"Glory."

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"Demigods have always fought for glory. They used to call it Kleos. It's like this stuff that attaches itself to your name. Makes it bigger, scarier, more important." Luke explained as the group started to walk outside of the cabin, Drea and Owen following close behind.

Percy seemed to be listening intently. His face could easily be read like he was thinking very hard about each word he was hearing, making Drea wonder about what could be going through his head.

"People listen closer when you talk, they work harder to be your friend, and they think twice about messing with you." Ironically, in came in a fury filled half-blood that needs no introduction.

She rammed right into Percy's shoulder without glancing at him, forcing him into Drea. She hadn't noticed it was Clarisse because she was about to quip back to his sudden shove, but he was suddenly thrown to the ground after calling out to Clarisse.

She tossed him down like he was a mere feather, causing Luke to intervene between them.

"Woah, hey. Knock it off, Clarisse. It's like his first day, come on."

Drea stepped over to grab Percy's arm and help him stand from the muddy dirt. She was inclined to say something comforting to him but Clarisse took charge.

"Wait, so this is the kid who killed the minotaur. Is that right?" She questioned, almost like she was asking to hear a different response.

"Yeah?"

"I'll bet."

Drea stood her arms crossed, eyebrows quirked in curiosity with a slight scowl. Clarisse was always starting something and she felt dumb for not immediately assuming she'd try to taunt Percy.

"Look, you want attention around here, dummy? You better be ready for it when it comes."

"Wow, nice insult, Hannah Montana." Drea spat at Clarisse.

She gave a stare that almost convinced Drea of the notion 'if looks could kill', because she was definitely trying.

Clarisse suddenly made a quick move in Percy's face to scare him, indirectly trying to prove her point. The group of kids walked away chuckling after Percy had backed away in fear.

"Well, she seems nice."

"Ares kids." Luke sighed, "They come by it honestly."

"Why don't they mess with you?"

"They know better." He smirked.

"Luke's the strongest swordsman at camp."

"Learned that the hard way, did you?" Owen teased Andrew. He shoved him with his shoulder to be quiet while he stifled a laugh.

"So, they leave you alone because 'glory'?"

Luke nodded in pride.

"So if I get glory, Clarisse wouldn't mess with me either?"

"Exactly."

"And people'll think I'm a big deal?"

"..well, sorta, but.."

"And my dad's got no choice but to claim me." Percy proclaimed like he was some genius. Every kid in camp knew all too well that's not how it worked, Drea especially.

"You can't force the gods to do anything."

"You'll get yourself nowhere with that backwards thinking." Drea countered.

"Well, yeah, but.. it would make it harder for him to pretend I don't exist, right?"

Those specific words hit a little too close to home.

"Maybe."

"Well, great. Where do we start?"

ϟ

Drea couldn't believe it. She was literally watching the male version of herself 4 years later trying the exact same thing she had. Desperate for your father's attention, so much so you go crazy trying everything you can. The parallels sent shivers down her spine. She almost burst into tears watching him fail at archery, practically identical to the way she did.

Sylvia was in charge of the session he was joining so he was in the best hands camp had in terms of shooting, and yet he missed by a mile, almost taking out an entire group of kids that begged him to let his first attempt be his last.

"Safe to say we don't have a new brother." Sylvia sighed as Percy surrendered the bow in fear of himself and his lack of skill with arrows.

"No kidding." All Drea could think of was how she also sucked at bow and arrow. Yet she was still an Apollo child wasn't she?

Over in the forgery, Percy was yet again with the best help there was, Owen. He seemed to be getting the hang of his hammer before catapulting the firey tool he was working on into a pile of cloth that instantly lit up in flames.

Irene had joined along in interest and bursted out laughing the moment Charles Beckendorf desperately tried to put out the fire. This only made Drea cackle as well.

The two wouldn't stop, more like couldn't, even though Luke begged them both to hush for Percy's sake. Percy only scowled.

Later into the night, while most were asleep, Drea found her thoughts swarmed with a lot of things. Annabeth had suggested that Percy could be the one. The one to take them on their destined quest. She almost bought it for a second, but now she was upset in realizing that he was exactly like her.

Not the one to save the day, just an over ambitious child who was introduced into a whole new world. Believing they could conquer because they didn't know enough yet to understand they weren't special.

They were too alike. It scared her.

Another thing clouding her mind was when she saw Luke go off again. It was right after the Hermes cabin had given their offerings for dinner. Drea was immensely curious and was almost close to losing her mind over it.

Before she could let herself fall asleep for the night, she overheard a familiar chuckle and footsteps wondering outside of the cabins. Drea recognized the sound of those voices. Clarisse and other Ares kids. She surely wasn't doing anything good.

Drea snuck out of the cabin for the 2nd time that week. Oddly enough, both times were for the both reason, because Percy Jackson was involved in a commotion. Clarisse led her to the girls bathroom where she crept behind the wall to find 3 Ares kids towering before Percy.

"Do you think you're special?"

"..no."

A few seconds of silence passed before she heard some footsteps and then the sound of struggling.

"Tell me you made it all up about the minotaur, and I'll let you go."

What?

Had Drea not watched with her own two eyes, she wouldn't believe it either. But taking action against Percy in some desperate attempt to get him to admit to a lie was far, even for Clarisse.

For Percy's sake, she wished he had made it up.

"I didn't make anything up!"

By the sound of Clarisse's laughs and Percy's groans of distress, Drea peeked around the corner out of concern. All she could see was Clarisse standing at the door of one of the stalls, looking perplexed.

Then it all happened so fast but time also seemed to slow down like a cartoon. Drea watched, eyes wide, as thick streams of water spurted from the stall and tackled each kid in the bathroom. All three ended up against the wall, dripping wet.

Clarisse stood up completely enraged but silent nonetheless. As the other 2 kids walked by Drea, Clarisse approached and shoved her shoulder on her way out. Then, Percy emerged from the now broken stall, looking confused.

The bathroom was entirely wrecked. The floor was beginning to flood as one of the kids had landed onto the sinks, causing the pipe to burst and splurge more water. Drea simply stood in the doorway with a million thoughts streaming like rushing water.

Ironic.

This was undeniable proof that Percy was special. The fact that he was puzzled by what he had done goes to show he was more powerful than she initially believed.

How many kids come to camp and inadvertently beat up their bullies with toilet water? Believe it or not, very few.

Percy had to be the one.

Percy gazed over to her, realizing she'd watched the entire thing. She waited for him to say something, knowing it was inevitable.

"I can explain.."

"Really? Okay. Then explain."

Silence.

"You notice how when you have your cool moments, I'm the one there watching?"

"You call this cool?" Percy gestured to the trashed bathroom.

"Hey, your head could be dunked in water right now. But it's not."

Percy stuttered over his words for a second before asking, "It's not a coincidence. Why are you always around when I'm in danger?"

"Why are you always in danger when I'm around?"

Percy rolled his eyes. He wasn't used to someone throwing his own sass back in his face.

"You know, I was beginning to think I was dumb for believing you could be useful to us. But I was obviously wrong."

"What?" Percy's mind swirled with curiosity. What did she mean useful, and who was us?

"Let's say, Annabeth and I have been waiting to see if you could help us. We could reaally use your help." Drea's words had more than one meaning, but he didn't need to know that. At least not yet.

"Why? For what?"

With a smug smirk, knowing her reply was not what she really meant, Drea answered,

"To win capture the flag."

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Ellie Speaks!

This chapter took me allll day and i'm somewhat happy with it 🫡

btw pls someone caught the jennifer's body reference bc i recently rewatched it and i thought it was funny