A CHILL SET IN THE AIR. The frosty wind nipped at the residents of the near-empty camp. Cassidy tugged on the makeshift bandage again. A leopard padded after them, letting out a low growl. "I get it, Fluffy, it was a bad idea" Cassidy grumbled. When they entered the infirmary the first thing that caught their eye were the two unfamiliar demigods. In the past few months communications had completely failed, they heard no word from the Saytr protectors. 

Cassidy unwrapped the cloth from around his arm, grimacing at the open wound. "What happened?" Will asked, approaching the child of Dionysus. "I was searching for Ellis, Cecil and Miranda. Got into a fight with a Myremeke that strayed too far from it's nest" Cassidy explained. Will gave them a disappointed look. Cassidy winced, he knew he'd been visiting the infirmary far too much lately. Always the result of some fight of the other. They felt guilty about using up camp resources and tiring the Apollo kids. Yet they found that they just couldn't stop. Ever since they'd fallen in. So they changed the subject instead.

"New arrivals? Have they been claimed?" Cassidy asked, looking past Will as he bandaged the wound. One of them was leaving the infirmary, a girl, roughly twelve with a messy page boy haircut and heavy rhinestone glasses. She looked like a traffic light with a bright green dress, yellow leggings and red shoes. The other was passed out on one of the beds. He looked around Cassidy's age, maybe a little younger. He had curly brown hair though his features were marred by a broken nose and a bruised face.

Will shook his head "Meg hasn't been claimed yet" he said. "And the boy?" Cassidy asked. He looked well over thirteen which was the deadline that Percy had given the gods to claim their children by. Not that it surprised them very much. "That's Apollo" Will said. "Apollo?" Cassidy echoed. When they thought of the sun god they thought of an attractive man with sandy blonde hair, blue eyes and a cocky smirk. Everything about him was just as loud as his personality.

The kid lying on the bed was not the first thing that would come to mind when thinking of Apollo. "According to Meg, Zeus turned him into a mortal" Will explained. Cassidy looked back at Will, startled. Apollo, mortal? "Are your powers okay?" Cassidy asked. They knew it wasn't the first time that the sun god had been turned mortal but as far as they remembered the myths had said nothing of how it affected the powers of Apollo's children.

"They seem fine so far, but the only way we can be sure is if we ask him" Will said, nodding towards the unconscious ex-god. Once done bandaging the wound, he moved away to his father's side. Cassidy watched curiously as he picked up a bowl of ambrosia. "Will that work? Now that he's mortal and all" they asked. "I'm not sure but his body must have some divinity in it to hold his form" Will reasoned. He brought the bowl near Apollo's mouth but his lips began to burn as the ambrosia touched it. He quickly moved the bowl away and set it on the table.

Will sighed, he slumped down in a chair. Exhaustion painted his features. His face was too pale to be healthy and Cassidy could make out dark eye bags forming. "Will, have you gotten any rest recently?" He asked. "I'm fine" Will assured. The lie was obvious, even without his heritage making his lie fall flat. "Take a break if you need it Solace, I'm sure somebody else can take over for a little bit" Cassidy said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"The moment I feel overwhelmed I'll take a break, I promise" Will assured, turning to face them. Cassidy knew Will's definition of overwhelmed would be 'about to die from exhaustion' but they didn't want to push him either. Cassidy made a mental note to mention it to Nico later. The son of Hades was any better but at least he'd make sure Will was okay.

Cassidy moved to the doorway, momentarily pausing as Fluffy padded up to them. "You're going to drop it?" the leopard asked. "No use pushing it" Cassidy replied, looking back at Will. They wished they had inherited something, anything that could be of help to the Apollo cabin who had been under a great deal of stress after the recent wars. As they left they scanned the area for Meg. They didn't want to get involved in this but that didn't mean that they weren't at least a little curious about it.

Cassidy found Meg with Sherman Yang, the current counsellor for the Ares cabin, who was taunting the little girl. The child of Dionysus let out a tired exhale, he was getting tired of the 'Ares cabin welcome.' At least he hadn't tried to stuff Meg's head in a toilet yet. Before they could step in to stop it Meg lashed out and kicked Sherman in the crotch. She stuck her tongue out smugly when he doubled over in pain. Cassidy bit back a laugh as they approached the two demigods. "Nice kick" they nodded. "Thanks" Meg replied.

Cassidy ignored the glare Sherman was sending their way "I heard you came to camp with Apollo" Cassidy said, they half expected Meg to be a little more bothered by the fact that they brought a god turned mortal into camp but she just nodded casually. "Yep" Maybe she didn't know yet?

"How did you find him?" Cassidy asked, they weren't sure what to do with the one word answers but they continued. "Some dumbasses were mugging him in my alley. I rescued him and then I claimed his services" Meg said, she sounded smug about the last bit. What the fuck? "Claimed his services?" The child of Dionysus echoed questioningly. "He said he needed a demigod to claim his services and after a few years of serving them Zeus would turn him back into a god" Meg explained. "So... You mean to tell me that Apollo, god of the sun, poetry, music and several other things is essentially your slave?" Cassidy said, a hint of disbelief in his voice. "And then he got you to camp?"

"No, we went to Percy Jackson first and he drove us to camp" Meg said. "Of-fucking-course he did" Cassidy muttered, scowling. They were getting tired of the gods dragging Percy into their messes, after the past two wars he deserved a life in peace with Annabeth. "Is that your leopard?" Meg asked, looking past Cassidy. "Yeah, that's Fluffy. He's harmless" They assured. Fluffy stopped licking his tail when he was mentioned, turning towards them "He has wings" Meg noted. "He's a magic leopard" Cassidy shrugged. Fluffy was a gift from Dionysus after the battle of Manhattan, he was created mainly to ensure that they would never have to been alone again.  "Cool" Meg nodded.

Cassidy nodded, only half listening. Their gaze flickered back to the infirmary where Apollo lay. He had the sinking feeling that once again, their delicate peace was going to shatter once again.

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[Edited: Yes]

[Author's note: One of my biggest flexes is that I have the same mbti type as Meg

There is no way Meg McCaffrey does not swear

No Lester this time, he'll be back next chapter. Or maybe the chapter after that.

It's a headcannon of mine that Apollo kids cannot lie. Sometimes literally and other times their lies are super obvious.

Anyway, I hope I wrote Will and Meg's characters right. One of my biggest weak spots is writing cannon characters accurately. I'm way too unsure of myself when I do that]
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