Ari's PoV

Nico may be sworn from leaving today, but there was no way I wasn't going. The only problem was I needed a better weapon. I was grateful for the dagger Nico gave me, but it felt like it should be a last resort for me. I walked into the armory and found nothing that I liked. Disgruntled, I walked back to the cabins to try and take a quick nap before dinner when I walked right into Annabeth and Piper.

"Oh, hi, Ari!" Piper said with a smile.

"Hi," I said awkwardly.

"Oh my gods I completely forgot!" Annabeth said while smacking her forehead. "You need a weapon and some clothes. The Athena cabin has a shed with more weapons if you want to check it out."

"Then we can go to the camp store and get you some clothes. I have some extra drachmas, so I can pay." Piper said kindly.

I saw no way out of this situation because I did need clothes, and Annabeth said she had other weapons. Sighing in resignation, I shrugged and said, "Okay. I hope you have cool weapons. The armory didn't seem to have anything I liked."

"We do have a pretty good selection," Annabeth admitted smugly. "Come with me."

We walked towards the cabins and stopped in front of a gray building with an owl above the door. There was a number six on the door, and just to the left of it was a small shed. "I remember when I got my dagger from here," Piper said. "Didn't do me much good fighting wise until the end, but it's still in great condition. I'll give it that."

I looked at her weirdly but didn't say anything. Annabeth opened the door, and we walked inside. I dug around for a little while, and I was about to give up when I saw a sword leaning against the wall. It was black like Nico's sword. The only other black weapon I've seen. I picked the blade up by the handle. It was perfectly balanced in my hand. I swung it to get a feel for it. It was almost perfect. I tossed the blade in the air, making it spin as it went airborne. As the blade spun, it morphed into a long black whip, and it landed perfectly in my hand again.

I stared at it in shock, then did the same thing again. This time it turned into a gun. "This is awesome!" I said in awe. It was the most beautiful weapon I had ever seen. This was absolutely perfect.

"The gun magically reloads itself after you fire it," Annabeth explained. "You can keep it if you want."

"Hell yeah I'm keeping this!" I exclaimed.

Annabeth and Piper chuckled. "Come on, we need to go get some clothes for you and the others," Piper said. As we walked toward the camp store, we passed by the Aphrodite cabin. There was a girl with deep red hair that was black at the roots and emerald green eyes sitting on the steps while she was sharpening a knife, scowling slightly. "Hi, Esra. Is everything okay?" Piper asked while walking up to her.

Esra stood up, and I did a double take when I realized she was as tall as me. "I'm fine. Just... Next week." She glanced at me wearily.

Piper's gazed softened, and she put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "You should go out and have some fun while you can. Go talk to people. You might find someone-"

"I've given up finding someone long ago, Piper. Thanks anyway." Esra cut her off. She stood up and regarded me one more time before she left.

"Isn't she being a little mellow dramatic? It's not like she isn't going to ever find someone. She has her whole life for fucks sake!" I said while rolling my eyes.

"There's more to it than that," Piper said sadly.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"It's complicated. If she wants to tell you, she can, but I don't want to say what's going on with her. It's her business." Piper said.

"Yeah. Okay." I stared at my shoes for a second. Why was I concerned? I've never cared about other people's feelings before.

"Come on," Annabeth said, shaking me out of my reverie. "It's almost dinner time, and we still need to get clothes and weapons for the others."

This chapter turned out shorter than I expected too. Hopefully I'll start writing longer chapters soon. Also, sorry about what happened to Chapter 24. Wattpad wouldn't let me fix it. Anyway, I hope you guys have a great day!