Motivation was a driving factor for artists. There was no art without muse, and the muse could be anything that sparked joy. Some days it came from within. Some days it just needed a little help coming out. Other days you couldn't wring the last drops of inspiration out of your soul. Those kinds of days were torture. You wouldn't be able to create something good, something worthwhile, even if someone held you at gunpoint.

Suhani could relate a tad. Just a tad, of course. She was generally perfect with everything she did, of course. Never heard of struggle in her whole life, of course. That was the slightest bit exaggerated, but it was simply some brainwa— positive affirmations to start the day off with. God knew she'd need it.

With perfect Sunday autumn weather came the brown dad's innate desire to wake their child up at the crack of dawn. One thing lead to another, and despite how much she wished she was still all cozied up under her covers, Suhani was sitting in a cafe down the road with a clear warning from her mother: come back with live sketches, or no entry.

Sure, it was good for her to practice more live sketching, but did it have to be first thing in the morning immediately after nearly dying from two separate monsters? Apparently, yes, yes it did. No amount of bargaining was leading to anywhere. Suhani was left stranded and groggy at the porch of their apartment complex with her tote, her sketchbook, some pencils, and her Nintendo that she'd snuck in, and headphones to get her through the unreasonable amount of exhaustion she was facing.

Suhani consoled herself with a chocolate croissant before getting to work. But with no will to live, much less the energy to find the beauty in life, nothing she put to paper was coming out right. The cat had become a sea urchin, the cute boy across the street was the average boy across the street, and there was a poor old woman who'd been transformed into the caricature of Pinocchio because the nose just refused to come out right. She'd done enough for now, hadn't she? Attempting any more would just be embarrassing, frankly.

She should take a break, clear her head, relax a little. Maybe that would help with her inspiration ( not really ), but that was her excuse. She pulled out her Nintendo and started the game. One moment she was in the cafe, and the next she was lying across a bed with sore muscles. She groaned. Her eyelids felt so heavy. The pain hadn't transferred when she'd gone back home, but she knew where it came from. It was the same pain Jimmy had inflicted upon her by squishing her together with Grover after the workout of a lifetime was back and spreading like fire through her body.

"This is why I don't exercise." She wailed through her pain.

"Welcome to Camp 'Exercise-or-get-eaten'." Someone responded to her cry of pain with amusement. Suhani narrowed her eyes and whipped her head to the side to meet with the most striking pair of grey eyes she'd ever laid her eyes upon. Instantly, she was sitting upright, jaw dropped, hand reaching out in an attempt to shake, but she recoiled and regretted her actions as her expression crumpled in pain.

"Hey, take it easy." Annabeth frowned, inching forward to help her lean back. "That cyclops did a number on you. I'm surprised you managed to think through the pain."

"Yeah, mostly because I couldn't feel it much back then." Suhani said, "Adrenaline, probably."

Annabeth nodded, looking pleased. "That was your godly blood kicking in."

Suhani smirked. She was being initiated by Annabeth Chase herself. Normally it switched between three roles — Annabeth, Grover, or Chiron himself. Rick liked to give the fans a sense of familiarity. "Godly, huh? Is that what you think of me?"

In real life, Suhani was absolutely the cowardliest of cowards anyone could ever meet. When it came to love and the like, anyway. Never once had she initiated any conversation with the people she'd formed crushes on. Her best friend would pass away from heart attack had she been here right now. The shock would have made her descend straight to the underworld, where she would screech out the ears of Hades and earn eternal punishment for still being in disbelief and then making it everyone else's problem.

Annabeth simply rolled her eyes, her initial interest in her having cooled down a little. Or so she was making it look. If there was anything Suhani knew it was that Annabeth Chase loved impulsive idiots. "No. Has Grover told you even a little bit about this?"

For a moment, Suhani wondered how she should go about this. The backstory of the player doesn't really get divulged, to make the experience more relatable to anyone. So technically, Suhani could just say whatever she wanted if Annabeth or Grover asked why she knew so much about Greek Mythology or why she didn't seem too surprised.

"We were a little busy not dying." Suhani shrugged. "But Grover is a satyr. Jimmy was a cyclops. And he said I was demigod meat, so that's gotta mean something."

"It does." Annabeth said, staring straight into Suhani's eyes, "How about we start from the top? Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena. Everyone else here is the same as me... We're all children of the Greek Gods. Including you."

"Right..." Suhani trailed off, trying to fake scepticism, "And that makes me...?"

"You, Suhani," Annabeth smirked, "Are one of the lucky ones."

Annabeth seemed to be trying to tease her, keep her in suspense. It was kind of adorable, actually. She was probably trying to get back at her for flirting earlier. Suhani simply raised a brow to gesture her to continue.

"Normally, demigods don't get claimed right away." Annabeth explained, "But you did, as soon as you stepped across the boundary. You're a daughter of Aphrodite, like Drew said. Guess you don't remember that part."

"I'll remember now that you told me." Suhani played innocent. Annabeth seemed to get flustered at that, but covered it up with a grin.

"I think you'll fit right in with your siblings." She said. "I'll go tell Chiron you're up. He'll send someone to take you on a tour once you're up to it. Get some rest, meanwhile."

"You're going already?" Suhani blinked. The length of the interaction had felt a lot longer while reading it on her switch than while actually experiencing it.

"You'll see more of me soon." Annabeth grinned, "We'll whip you up into shape in no time."

"More exercise?!" Suhani's jaw dropped in horror. And receiving training from Annabeth Chase? This was the only part of the game she wished she could instantly skip.

🅰🅵🅵🅴🅲🆃🅸🅾🅽 🅻🅴🆅🅴🅻

♥️ ・・・ 𝘼𝙉𝙉𝘼𝘽𝙀𝙏𝙃 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙎𝙀 (🧢 )

While Suhani waited for the person that was supposed to take her on a tour of the camp, someone had returned her things to her. Her things being her tote bag filled with all the things she'd brought with her to her sketching session at the cafe. How and when it had entered this universe, she couldn't recall, but she was curious to see if she could play the game on some sort of auto mode, or even skip scenes using her Nintendo. She turned it on, and it opened directly to the scene where the player went on a tour of camp. Okay, so it was following her actions here. Creepy, but good to have, considering she could check the history any time she wished.

She blinked when words started typing themselves across the screen even though she hadn't clicked next. They displayed the words at the same time she heard someone say, "Monsters as chauffeurs, huh? That's a new one."

Suhani shoved her Nintendo back into her tote bag. Who needed screens when the real Percy Jackson was standing right in front of them? He was everything she could wish for and more. Jawline angled just right, not too sharp and not too soft. Dark, tousled hair like he'd been rolling around in the sand or catching waves and wind. Eyes clear as sea glass. Yeah, that was the Percy Jackson of the fans' wildest dreams. What she'd said to Annabeth earlier felt like a joke. Percy Jackson was the living breathing god.

"The silent treatment already?" He asked, "And I haven't even blown up toilets in your face yet."

Suhani sniggered at that, "Sorry." She tried to come up with reasons explaining why she had been staring at him with stars in her eyes, but there were none that preserved her dignity. "I, uh, I'm bad with people?"

"An Aphrodite kid, bad with people?" Percy asked dryly, "That's new. Do you want me to send over my brother Tyson to show you around? You'll get along well with him, he's a cyclops too."

Oh, great, now he thought Suhani's best friends all consisted of baby giants. "Oh, just start the tour already." She rolled her eyes. The sass allegations were far too accurate for this one.

Percy just grinned and started walking. Camp Half-Blood wasn't quite exactly as Suhani had imagined it. But that was just because Suhani could never imagine things that were described to her. A skill issue, you could say. Also she never cared much about how camp looked, the plot and character interactions were much more important to her. That was also what made her appreciate the beauty of camp even more.

The setting of the strawberry fields in the distance made her feel like she was a rich young lady on a family picnic. The renaissance style corset top and flowy cream skirt Aphrodite — her supposed mother — had magically put her into made the delusion feel more real. Cabins of marble glistened under sunlight, and people turned to stare at her as she walked while hanging onto every word Percy said. They could have been staring because Percy himself was so eye candy. But after receiving Aphrodite's blessing, Suhani felt glad to think that she didn't look half bad herself, either. Her skin was smooth and clear, glowing like it hadn't since she was eleven. Aphrodite had also left her long hair to flow down in it's natural state, which made her happy because the literal Goddess of Beauty approved of her hair. Suhani promised herself she would never skip out on hair oiling day again.

Suhani was in an impossibly good mood. Everything was perfect, from the weather to the setting to her company. It almost felt like she was on a date. Unfortunately, as all miracles did, hers ended all too soon as well. After showing her each and every cabin, Percy took her to the Amphitheatre, the infirmary, then the sword arena, then the infamous rock climbing lava wall.

"Yeah, I'm gonna die here." Suhani uttered. It took quite a lot of neck cranking to reach the top of the wall, and, well, Suhani wasn't quite fond of heights. Or lava. And least of all was she comfortable with the fact that they had to get on that thing without harnesses.

Percy snickered, "No, that's basically the whole point of coming here. To learn how not to die."

"I'm guessing hiring bodyguards isn't really a thing here?" Suhani said. Of course, if she planned on coming back here, she knew she'd have to get used to the idea of a workout. But she was kinda sorta hoping that she'd get the cheat of being able to handle all the fighting like she'd magically gotten the ability to charmspeak.

"Don't worry." Percy rolled his eyes, "You guys really just have to do the bare minimum."

"'You guys?'" Suhani asked.

"You're not the only one who finds all of this... too much." Percy seemed to be choosing his words carefully, "Most children of Aphrodite don't throw themselves into training like the other demigods do."

"Right..." It felt a little off to be spoken of like that, but that was the whole premise of the game after all. A daughter of Aphrodite feeling undermined to the point of deflecting to Kronos's side.

Percy seemed to sense the mood change, so he changed the topic right away, "Have you met your siblings yet? Come on, I'll take you to the Aphrodite cabin."

"Sure." Suhani replied, letting him lead her back to the cabins. When they got there, Percy asked one of the campers exiting the cabin for Drew, but they said they didn't know. Before he could ask them to introduce Suhani to the others, they'd disappeared, linking arms with someone who'd just walked out of the Demeter Cabin. Love sure was all around, just as the game title suggested.

Percy lead Suhani inside, only four people inside. One of them was snoozing with an eye mask on, clearly not to be disturbed. There was another seated at a vanity, in the midst of taming their tangles. The third had just disappeared into another room, probably the washroom, leaving only the fourth, a gorgeous girl with bronze skin and a soft, deep brown blowout to talk to.

"Is that our new sister?" she asked, getting up from the bed she'd been sprawled prettily across. She squealed with delight when she looked Suhani up and down, "Ooh, mom's done so good with you. I'm Marisol, but you can call me Mari."

Marisol extended a hand to Suhani with a warm smile. Suhani recalled the excitable girl drawn in chibi style in the game, and smiled back. She was such a supportive and adorable character, it was hard not to like her. "I'm Suhani. It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah, same here." Marisol smiled again before taking a glance at Percy, who looked like a fish out of water, eyes wide as he stared at the concoctions the sibling at the vanity was putting all over their face. "You can go now, Percy, I'll take it from here."

"Yeah," Percy sighed, sounding offendingly relieved, "I'll see you at lunch, Suhani. Welcome to camp, again."

Suhani waved him goodbye and watched his form disappear through the door, a little disappointed again.

"He's so fine," Marisol sighed, and Suhani realised she wasn't the only one with eyes on him, "Isn't he?"

"That's an understatement." Suhani mumbled, a little embarrassed at the words coming out of her own mouth. Where was the brazen girl that had openly flirted with Annabeth just one scene ago? She supposed it was easier to compliment and flirt with women than with men. It didn't actually feel serious when you flirted with your female friends.

Marisol laughed, "So now that you've impressed the hottest guy at camp, how about changing out of those clothes? You look like you need a nap, and that dress is too gorgeous to let it wrinkle. Mom's magic only lasts so long."

"I wouldn't phrase it like that." Suhani said, feeling her cheeks heat up, "But a change of clothes sounds nice."

Marisol disappeared behind one of the doors which Suhani suspected was a giant walk in closet. Tentatively, Suhani followed. Yup, this was definitely the magical closet from the game. On the right were racks upon racks of dresses, tops, sweatshirts, jeans, anything she could possibly think of categorised by color, type, and size, available for the use of anyone in the cabin.

"You can take anything from the left side. The right's off limits, though. Everyone has their own personal clothes sectioned off on this side."

On the right side of the room, different closets were all lined up til, all shut and locked. Suhani guessed the Aphrodite Cabin's motto was to 'better be safe than sorry'.

When they reached the end of the room, Marisol took Suhani's hand and placed it on the wall. A light emitted from the corners of the tile, and Suhani pulled her hand back. The wall started shimmering in gold, extending and elongating until a brand new wooden closet appeared, just for her.

"Woah..." Suhani stared in awe.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Marisol's eyes twinkled with excitement, "But get this, it comes with a starter kit!"

She flung open the door for Suhani to see a bright orange tee and a pair of shorts already hanging inside, a pair of trekking boots at the bottom. The first free items that the game gives you. Everything else you earn on quests, or buy with your own money. In game, of course. Although Suhani wondered how she'd be making money here, considering real quests didn't exactly come with a salary.

"Change and freshen up." Marisol said to her kindly, "You have a few hours until lunch. Jesus and I will come get you when it's time, if you're nervous. Oh, Jesus is my twin brother. He'll probably be back from Arts and Crafts in twenty minutes, that's when his free period is scheduled. Unfortunately for you I'll be gone by then, but like I said. We'll come get you for lunch. Just relax til then. You won't be able to from tomorrow."

That was a lot of information thrust upon her all of a sudden. Lucky she already knew Jesus ( pronounced Hay-Zeus, which was funny because Grover had warned her about saying Jesus last time, but the Spanish pronunciation literally had Zeus in it ). The Garcia twins were the NPCs that instructed players how to go about the game and introduced them to the Aphrodite cabin and explained all the other romance related quirks of the game. Things like what style which romance-able characters preferred and which outfits to wear to go on dates with them. Typical otome stuff, if you were familiar with them. They twins also ran the daily Gatchas, but Suhani doubted they had Gatcha in the actual Aphrodite Cabin.

"Thanks, Mari." Suhani smiled at her. She pulled out her Nintendo once the girl left her, knowing the chapter had just about ended. Just as she'd expected, once she'd changed and picked a bunk to lay down in, the world turned black, and when she opened her eyes next, she was back in the cafe.

Just like last time, everything not a single second had passed while she'd been inside the game. The cat she'd sketched was still lazily napping in the sun. The cute guy who'd been waiting for the signal to turn green was hurriedly crossing the street. The woman with the Pinocchio nose paying for her bagels was still handing money to the employee. Suhani sat, dazed and unblinking for the first few moments, adjusting to being back in the real world. She only came out of her stupor when the door of the cafe opened, the bell ringing to alert the employees that a new customer had entered. Suhani sighed, still reeling from the excitement of having a secret life nobody else knew about, but she forced herself to flip the page of her sketchbook and start with her sketching again. Only this time, she was drawing Annabeth's piercing eyes, tracing Percy's soft smirk, and Marisol's warm, sunshine smile.

AUTHOR'S NOTE ✸꙳⋆

AAA this is literally the SLOWEST fic i've ever written, like the main characters havent even met yet! but still its so enjoyable writing suhani, she's so babyy she's so relatable HAHA.

me not knowing how to start the chapter because of writers block 🤝 suhani also having artists block

feel free to comment your thoughts :) im not begging ( i am )

esme