A little disclaimer on this story. It is set in the Riordanverse, which is owned by Rick Riordan. The original characters and plot belong to myself and IWantTeaAndABook

Secondarily, a shout out to my super helper for this story. She created the character of M and I really appreciate all the things she does from supporting my writing to helping create characters and story! Thank you so much!

Now without further ado, the story.

I raised my hammer high and slammed it down on the glowing metal. Clang, clang, clang. I went at it, hammering the metal into its shape. The metal began to cool and I twirled a flame around the metal to heat it. My name is Mars, or M for short, and I'm a demigod. I am the demigod child of Hephaestus, which means I was born of my mortal mother, but my father is the greek god of the forge and fire. I found myself in the forge today, as I usually did. I was quite the craftsman, and my rare talent for manipulating flames made working in the forge much easier for me. Rather than using tongs, I often used my hands to retrieve or move hot metals. I still put my hair up out of habit, though it wouldn't burn.
    I had been working on this current project for some time. My best friend here at camp had drawn up the design for the armor that I was making. Joseph Aero was the Athena cabin counselor, though he always said he would happily give the position up to anyone that deserved it. I had a feeling he was referring to Annabeth Chase, his half sister. Despite all of his duties as a counselor, he made time to hang out with me. While I was thinking, I kept hammering, but I soon realized that I had accidentally let the metal cool too much and was now pounding a misshapen plate of celestial bronze. It really was frustrating when I did that.
    I resolved myself to pick up the sheet of metal and throw it back into the furnace to reheat. I didn't have the energy right now to reheat it myself. Picking up the lopsided plate of armor, I tossed it over my anvil and into the furnace. I was so tired I managed to miss the four foot toss.
    "Ugh, I don't bloody need to put up with this!" I shouted at the metal, my Irish accent slipping through my speech. That often happens when I am buggered.
    "I haven't heard that accent in a while Pyro. What's so frustrating this time?" I knew that Joseph would no doubt have a smug smile on his face if I turned around as disheveled as I was. He had been significantly more confident recently, and either I was glad for him, or worried. It was a little known fact, but a just over a year ago, Joseph had developed a second personality that was cruel, evil, and disrespectful. We actually managed to split his second personality into a separate person (please don't ask how. It's a long story). We succeeded in ending his life, as far as I was aware, and I hoped he was burning in Tartarus like the monster he was.
    "Just this stupid armor that you designed." I reconsidered my phrasing. "Not that the design is poor, just that it's freaking hard to craft."
    "Well, I'm sure it's nothing a hot handed hunter like you can't figure out," Joseph joked. He was no doubt reminding himself of my status as a hunter of Artemis. I was an exception to many of her rules by staying at Camp Half-Blood, but my vow to deny romance was not one of those exceptions. Jo had actually made it clear long ago that he actually did have feelings for me, before Mark, his evil other half, ever acted on it. Just remembering it was giving me shivers.
    "Oh, I know. I just wasn't paying attention and messed up one of the plates in your collapsing design."
    "It's really more Connor's design, he made the helmet. I just drew up the rest of the armor." He motioned to the the small bronze circlet on his head. Jo mentioned he had considered disguising it somehow, but figured he would let the Mist do the work when he needed it to. Jo didn't often casually mention Connor.
    Connor had been his best friend before he arrived at Camp Half-Blood. They had been attacked on their way to the border of the camp by a headhunter. Joseph had hung back at the time, unsure of what to do until his friend was killed. He said that he had to take the time that Connor fought, having been at camp for a year already, in order to figure out what to do against the man. Joseph simply ran for the border as Connor had instructed him.
    I don't remember if I was at camp that day or not. It was always difficult to remember stuff after my own dark origin story. I often worried that it would still come back to haunt me for a second time.
    "M, you know," Joseph finally said, "If you are so tired that it is interfering with your work, you should probably get some sleep." He was right, and the sun had just finished setting as I could see in the open air forge.
    "You're right, I should head for bed." I returned my hammer to its resting place and started toward the steps at the front of the forge.
    "Now wait a minute," Joseph said, "Don't I get my kiss goodnight?" This was a running joke between us, even though he knew I wasn't going to be romantically tied down, he still asked this every night. I simply smiled at him and brought my finger up to his face and lightly tapped his nose. He smiled and laughed. I normally would have joined in, but today just wasn't the day. This time though, he did something he hadn't done before. He reached up and lightly booped me on the nose as well. I didn't move for a second, a little too surprised to react.
    "You could use a good boop every now and then too, I think," he said with a grin. It was more forward than he had ever been as long as he was himself. I wasn't counting Mark kissing me without my consent. I really hated that guy.
    "Good night, Joseph," I finally sighed.
    "Good night, Maralie." He didn't use my full name very often. He was one of three people at Camp Half-Blood that knew it, and he always used it to show just how much he cared about me. Mark had taken advantage of that.
    I turned to leave the forge and walked the path in the dark. I could have easily lit my way with a small flame, but it wasn't worth the energy it would take to maintain the flame. I noted that the breeze I had felt while I was hammering away had faded from the air, and the night was completely still. I took a moment to just listen to the sounds around me. I listened to the crickets' chirping in the spring grasses, the first few cicadas' droning, and the other sounds of the night. I finally reached my cabin and went inside. My bunk was actually in a basement level dug into the ground below the cabin, so I climbed down the ladder and flopped onto my mattress. I finally slept well for the first time in weeks.
    It wasn't until after breakfast the next morning that I talked with Joseph again. He had a new camper apparently, and was showing them the ropes around cabin number 6. He had asked in the past that I do not break the rules and sit at his table if he had a new camper in his cabin.
    My own cabin counselor was similar in their level of seriousness with which they took their job, but I knew that some cabin counselors, like the Hermes or Dionysus cabins, were not so inclined to be realistic.
    I was actually standing outside my cabin when he approached me. My hair was up again; I was about to go try again with Jo's special armor.
    "M, you know, if you want help with the armor, you can always ask," he offered. "I think I could at least get one of the plates well enough after your lessons."
    "Nah," I countered, "You stick to your books and battle tactics, Ink Brain."
    "Oh, that's not fair, especially after I made you that flame tiara." I smirked, remembering the impressively delicate little crown he had made. He had made it and given it to me as a thanks for giving him a few lessons in the forge. I guessed that his success in the forge was partly that I was a natural teacher, and he was just a great student.
    "Alright, fine! You can help, you sad excuse for a counselor," I conceded. I wasn't in too much of a mood to talk as we walked to the forge. When we got there, I stoked the forge once again, helping out a little with a flame of my own. After the metal was heated, Joseph finally couldn't stand my silence.
    "So..." he droned.
    "Yeah?"
    "Anything you wanna talk about? Maybe what's really stressing you out? I don't buy this whole hard-to-make armor excuse." I hated it when he did that. Sure, he was right, but why couldn't he be wrong every now and then?
    "Alright, but I'm not going to stop working," I said.
    "So, what is it?"
    "Mark," I grunted as I hit the plate I was currently shaping.
    "M, he's gone. You killed him. You put Phyrus down his throat." I knew he was right and there was nothing to worry about, but I still felt something. It was a warning, scratching at the base of my neck. Something was wrong.
    "You really need to just let out some of the stress." I opened my mouth to suggest something, but he stopped me before anything came out. "No, I am not going to spar with you, I don't need another injury to the head, and I don't feel like putting another dagger in your shoulder." I laughed as he practically read my mind.
    "Alright, coward," I taunted.
    "Bravery and stupidity are one in the same, didn't you know?"
    "Jo, You'd have to be one stupid tactician then." I smiled at him and he returned it. For some reason, I felt something strange. It was something on my face. It felt like when I was manipulating fire and brought it just a little too close to my face. I was blushing. I quickly turned back to my work, internally scolding myself and mumbling something out loud.
    "M..." Joseph started.
    "Yeah?" I said, as was often our pattern. I forced myself to look at him and stop blushing, and surprisingly succeeded.
    "Put the hammer down for a second and come over here," he said, waving me over. I glanced at the plate in front of me, noting that he asked right as I finished it. I decided to give him a minute of trust after all we had done together.
    "Alright, you need to just relieve your stress. Stand here and close your eyes." After a little hesitation, I complied.
    "'Kay, now think about Mark for just one second." I wondered how this could possibly help with my stress and worry.
    "Now, find something more important. Something that makes you happy and brings you joy. Let that push Mark all the way to the back of your mind. Let it overpower him." I pictured my friends, Joseph and Monika, all three of us sitting around the campfire, roasting marshmallows and laughing together. I thought of my older friends, the people that I joined the hunters with. I remembered all of my friends, joking and smiling as we walked, bows slung over our shoulders. It made me forget Mark for only a minute. Then I felt something touch my hand.
    "Now," Joseph said, pulling my hand up between us, "I want you to think about them and let that happiness flow through every part of you. Focus it on our hands." He pulled my other hand up and I imagined the smiles and warm feelings flowing from hand to hand.
    "Now let it move down to your toes. All the way to the bottom of your shoes." I did so, letting it start filling me from the bottom up, Mark was still there, but he was definitely retreating in my mind. I was letting my friends fill me up, but they weren't enough.
    "Now let it move up," he said, letting go of my hands and putting them on my shoulders. I began smiling as I thought about how silly this thing was. I felt Jo's hands shift to the base of my neck, and I tensed. Only for a moment, it reminded me of Mark. How he had done the same thing, only that he immediately pulled towards him. Now though, Joseph only reached a little higher and pulled my hair tie out, letting my hair fall to my shoulders.
    "Now let Mark fall away, just like that. Be free." It was a good analogy, and I felt his breath mixing with my own. This wasn't right, yet... yet it was.
    "Just focus on your friends. Say them out loud."
    "Analise. Mackenzie. Ashley." I kept going, listing off each of the hunters, ending with my captain, Thalia. "Then Monika and... and..." I faltered, not sure why my heart was pounding in my chest. I was just relieving my stress, so what was this feeling? "And you."
    Suddenly, apparently Joseph couldn't take it anymore. He shifted forward and our lips met. I wanted to scream, but I wasn't quite sure why. It wasn't at all like when Mark had kissed me. This was passionate, not forceful. I wanted to pull away, but for some reason, I felt myself lingering. When Joseph backed away, a questioning look overtook his face. I was frozen. This was wrong. This wasn't me. This wasn't even Joseph. Joseph wouldn't do that. Only one person would do something like that.
    I took one hesitant step backwards, letting my weight drop.
    "Mark?" No. No, no, no. This could not be happening to me. Not when I felt so relaxed.
    "I... I don't know..." Joseph, or rather, Mark, stared at his own hands in disbelief. He lifted a hand to his own lips, mirroring my own movement. "M... I- I'm so sorry. I'm not Mark, but... it feels like he's there. Present. M, what's happening to me?"
    I didn't have an answer for Joseph, because I was wondering the same thing as my lips seemed to tingle. Who was this boy before me, and who was now standing in my place?
    I might never know.