☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☽

❝ It was rare, I was there,
I remember it all too well ❞

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☽

YOU KNOW WHAT'S HARDER THAN TAKING CARE OF A BABY?
TAKING CARE OF A TEENAGER...

It was definitely not Ara's first choice to supervise the new kid while he was still unconscious, and yet there she was, feeding him chocolate pudding.

It was almost sunrise, and Ara had been at the infirmary with the mystery guy for almost two hours after she took the shift from Argus, their friendly (not very friendly) monster security guard. The 'waking up in the middle of the night' wasn't a problem for her, since she couldn't sleep great regardless, but being a babysitter was not a pleasure.

The blonde had been out for almost two days, and, in that time, he had been waking and passing out almost constantly. He would mutter some words between his drooling and then fall back into a deep sleep.

Ara didn't give much thought to his words, assuming he was just mumbling nonsense, but something caught the girl's attention.

"Mom..." he kept calling out. Even though he was whispering, his tone seemed desperate, as if he was doing his best not to scream.

The redhead couldn't help feeling sorry for him, for she knew how horrible it was to watch your mother die right before your eyes. She glanced back at the Minotaur horn and closed her eyes, remembering the basilisk fang she still kept under her bed from the night her mom died. Keeping that souvenir brought Ara the slight reassurance that she actually succeeded in something that night.

And yet, if he was really the Percy she thought he was, she couldn't feel sorry for him. Not after the terrible fate he had brought her...

The room was dark, very dark, only a slight light from the moon got in and shined over the boy and girl. However, the rest of the infirmary was taken over by darkness, which did not make Ara's life better.

Look, I know what you might think... child of Hades equals love for darkness and black stuff. Well, that might be your ordinary type of kid, but not me...

As much as I hate to admit, I don't like darkness... at all. I might even be scared of it, but you'll never catch me saying it out loud.

That's why, even if she felt like glancing back to look into the black abyss behind her, she had decided not to, as a step closer to overcoming that fear.

And yet, as the minutes went by, she started having goosebumps, her senses telling her to look back to acknowledge some kind of danger, which, in her mind, was least likely to actually be there. But she knew she was wrong the moment a cold voice was heard from behind her.

Don't be scared... the voice crooned. The time is coming...

It was an old, deep voice, which, weirdly, Ara felt like she recognized. It was like a familiar dream, or nightmare.

The redhead started shaking, sensing a pair of mysterious eyes watching her from beyond the darkness, almost like they were admiring her. She began to turn around, working the courage to face the monstrosity she thought she was about to face.

And yet, all she could spot through the darkness were two shimmery golden eyes, surrounded by what looked like even more darkness, if that was even possible.

It was like the thing brought the darkness with it.

Come down, little hero, it spoke again, sending shivers through Ara's whole body. Come home!

The floor seemed to start breaking and split beneath Ara, opening up a crevice straight down to the center of the earth. The darkness swallowed the entire room, making Percy disappear into the black abyss.

Ara got up from the chair, wanting to run, but the darkness seemed to come after her. Until it completely swallowed her, and she fell.

That was when she woke up, the feeling of falling giving her goosebumps. She looked around for that monstrosity as she was trembling, but there was no sign of it, just a dark, empty infirmary.

Well, not exactly empty. Percy was there, just like she knew him to be, still in the same position, and still drooling.

So maybe she wasn't dreaming about everything. The weird thing was, she had no idea when she fell asleep, and the even weirder part was how she'd managed to just fall into such a deep sleep. She couldn't do that even when she tried...

Ara had the strong and scary feeling the voice purposely got her into that weak state as a way to communicate with her, to allure her 'home'. What in the world was that about? And what did he mean by 'the time is coming'? Time for what?

Then it hit her.

A few days ago, she had overheard Chiron and Mr. D talking about the summer solstice, how they must act before running out of time, and, after consulting with Annabeth, she found out the brunette had also heard that something had been stolen from Olympus and they must wait for the solution.

But, what the two girls could not figure out was which item was taken and why the two men were acting as if it was gonna lead to the end of the world.

And what was the solution they were waiting for? It wasn't as if the answer to whatever concerned them would come ringing at the door...

Unless it was a person...

Suddenly, the boy's eyes started to open, scanning his surroundings until his gaze landed on Ara.

"Where... am I?" he barely let out, his ocean blue eyes meeting Ara's turquoise ones.

For a few seconds, Ara studied him. "What is going to happen on the summer solstice?" she found herself asking.

A part of her thought the poor boy might have no idea what she meant, but she had nothing to lose by trying.

"What was stolen? Why is Chiron so worried?" she continued, even if she didn't know if the boy was thinking of an answer or just falling back to sleep.

"What?" was all he said.

Great, dead end...

Ara sighed before she suddenly heard footsteps approaching the infirmary. She quickly glanced back at the blonde to tell him to be quiet, but she didn't have to, for he had already fallen back to sleep.

When she looked back at the doorway, she saw Argus standing there, all his a hundred eyes fixed on her. Gods, it freaks me out every single time.

She knew he was there to take the shift from her and watch the new kid for the rest of the night, so Ara got up and left. Despite having to go to her cabin, she went to her safe place, the tree. At that moment, she felt like she could use all the safety she could get...

___

In the morning, after everyone gathered in the mess hall for breakfast, all the kids started to attend their usual activities. Each cabin had its own chosen schedule, and, because Ara wasn't technically a Hermes kid, she just stayed there since Hades didn't have his own cabin, Chiron allowed the girl to choose her own activities.

That's why, the only places anyone would find Ara were the archery training area (she chose to learn archery so she wouldn't have to be taught sword fighting by Luke at the same time as Isa), the metal shop (she discovered she had a bit of a Hephaestus kid talent for building thing after accidentally revealing her inclination to one of the only children who were nice to her, Charles Beckendorf, and he became like a mentor for the younger girl, spending a lot of time with her in the shop even in his spare time just to teach her some cool things) or wandering through camp, mostly at the meadow up a hill close to the beach where her dear blossomed tree surrounded by lilies was.

At that moment, Ara was wandering through camp, until she crossed paths with the person she wanted to speak with the most.

"Finally, I've found you," Annabeth said. "Did you find out anything?"

The two girls were known for being noisy, but that was a situation that actually required them to put in effort. They wanted to figure out what was happening in Olympus, and why Chiron and Mr. D were acting as if that was gonna affect them, too.

When Percy showed up at camp, Annabeth thought she heard from the two men that he was somehow connected to this unknown mess, so they decided to take turns to watch the blonde and see if they could find out something and help solve the issue.

And then there was Annabeth's long desire to go on a quest to prove herself. Ara always knew that she meant to prove herself to her mother, but she'd never said it out loud.

That was the significant difference between the two, Annabeth wanted to prove herself to people, while Ara chose to remain hidden because she knew she had no one to prove herself to.

But if there was a problem that concerned even Dionysus, then it was something big, and she and Annabeth were determined to do anything to help.

Unfortunately, every time the brunette girl went to the infirmary, Percy would only mutter a few words, not even acknowledging her presence. She knew Ara had the same luck until then, but she hoped the night before was finally a success.

"Did something happen last night?" Annabeth added.

What didn't happen...

Ara trusted her friend more than anyone, but she was still resentful about telling her about the dream she had. It was too weird and they had other things to worry about right now.

"Yup, Mr. Mystery has no idea what world he's living in." she finally responded, making Annabeth frown.

"Well, what did he say?"

Ara had a tired expression, "Nothing. He had no idea what I was talking about."

"Maybe you just surprised him with the questions..." she tried to think of a reason.

"Annabeth, I'm telling you, that boy is parallel with this world." the redhead tried to convince her friend. "We won't find out anything from him."

The Athena girl sighed, looking like her brain was gonna catch fire from overusing it. "But he must be connected to this somehow. There has to be something special about him..."

"Annabeth, he drools when he sleeps." she pointed out, making her friend roll her eyes.

"Not. Important." the brunette said, cutting off Ara's sarcastic comment, which, in other circumstances, would've made her laugh. "We should keep an eye on him, see how he handles all of this, and watch out for any signs of abilities that might tell us who his father is."

"Yeah..." Ara narrowed her eyes sarcastically. "That sounds more like a you job, so good luck."

When she turned around to leave, she spotted Chiron in the distance, walking towards them with Percy next to him.

"I see your project is approaching. Chiron is basically gonna hand you your wish." she turned to her friend to see her contradictory expression.

"Umm, about that..." Annabeth spoke up, tilting her head. "I sort of already told Chiron I have to go to sword practice with my cabin."

Ara's smile dropped the moment she heard her friend's words. She knew where she was going, but before she had the chance to object, Annabeth spoke again. "But don't worry, you'll do great."

The brunette put on an encouraging smile, as if that would make it better.

"Nah uhh! Don't you dare throw this on me!" the redhead finally said, but Annabeth already started walking away.

"Sorry, Ara, I'll make it up to you." she said, smiling, as she began to walk away and leave her best friend to deal with the kid she least wanted to interact with.

"I thought you were the wise one!" the redhead almost shouted. "I'm telling you, this is not a wise call!"

"Don't forget to fill me in after!" she said, and with that, Annabeth ran off. The redhead silently cursed her friend just before Chiron stopped in front of her, Percy standing to his right.

"Good morning, Ara!" he saluted, earning a head bow from her in response. "Percy, this is Arabella Salvatore, she took care of you in the last few days."

Not by choice...

"Ara, would you be kind enough to take Percy from here?" he continued. "I have masters' archery class at noon, but I trust you'll introduce him to everything he should know here, like showing him his cabin and around camp."

Ara let out a silent sigh. Why do I always end up retrieving everyone's leftovers?

"Sure, Chiron." she put on a smile to hide her obvious lack of enthusiasm.

"Perfect, then." the centaur sounded pleased. "You will be cabin-mates, since Percy has not been claimed yet."

Oh well, this just gets better and better...

"I haven't been what?" Percy asked, cluelessly, but Chiron didn't respond, he just gave Ara a mindful look.

"You should get on it, you have a lot to catch up to." the man said, looking at the blonde and then at Ara with a warm smile before turning on his hooves and leaving the girl with Percy 'the clueless' Jackson. The boy clearly didn't know on which planet he was walking on, which only meant Ara had to explain everything to him, which, again, was not part of her ideal daily activities.

"Come on, mystery boy," Ara sighed, knowing she had no way out of it. "I'll show you your new home."

The girl started walking, leaving Percy with only the option to follow her. For a while, neither of them said a thing, but Ara could feel his gaze fixed on her, giving her the impression the blonde was starting to recognize her and it would only take him a bit to put the pieces together.

"Hey..." he finally spoke, putting in some effort to keep up with her. "I know you..."

Right on time...

She knew that moment might come, but Ara was not yet ready to face that awful memory yet.

"Trust me, you don't." she denied, hoping he would let it go, but that boy was persistent.

"But, we've met. I recognize you... your red hair, blue eyes, and..." he gazed at the ring just as Ara tried to hide it. Percy must've realized she didn't want him to point out her jewel, so he skipped that part. "You spilled food on that boy's head, saw that thing I was seeing, and then..." he stopped, trying to find the words to describe his crazy memories.

"Wow... is that what you were dreaming while drooling?" she asked, leaving the blonde looking offended.

"Okay, first of all, I don't think I drool."

"Think being the keyword..." she spoke over him.

"And second, it wasn't a dream! You were there." he sounded so sure of himself, that the redhead knew she had no way to turn this around.

Ara sighed, "Let me give you a piece of advice, new guy. If you wanna survive in this world, you can't be too focused on the past."

That left Percy confused. He had no idea how that had anything to do with his question, and Ara was not ready yet to explain, which seemed obvious to the boy. Therefore, no one said a word for the rest of the walk, until they reached their first destination point.

"Welcome," Ara spoke up, gesturing to the brown cottage, "to cabin eleven."

It was a small home for how many children were gathered. There were beds all over the place and, between them, some sleeping bags. If you're claustrophobic, cabin eleven is not the place for you.

"This seems..." Percy began saying, "crowded."

"You should see it at night, when everyone is bunching in this little thing." Ara commented, having a hint of disgust in her expression. "I'm sure you'll love it." she smiled sarcastically.

At that moment, the kids were starting to acknowledge their presence. One of them shouted from the back "Is that the new kid?"

"Yeah." Ara responded, getting everyone's attention, "Cabin eleven, meet Percy Johnson."

"Umm, Jackson." he corrected her. "Percy Jackson."

The rethread narrowed her eyebrows, "I'm pretty sure that's how Mr. D said you're called."

"Trust me, it's not." he sounded tired, as if he had been over this before.

"Regular or undetermined?" a boy asked.

That question seemed to be for Percy, but, since he clearly had no idea what that meant, Ara responded for him, "Undetermined."

Everybody groaned. That was the usual reaction upon hearing that common answer. After so many unclaimed kids, the Hermes children seemed to get tired of hosting all the new campers. As if someone would stay there by choice...

"Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for." a dark-haired boy walked up to them.

Then, as if Luke's presence wasn't enough of a headache already, another person came through the crowd to welcome the new kid.

"Welcome to camp, Percy." Isa spoke. "It's great seeing you healthy and not unconscious."

"Thanks. That makes two of us." he responded, making the brunette girl smile. For a second, Isa glanced at Ara, but, once she saw her sister's annoyed look, she turned back to Percy.

"You can have that spot on the floor, right over there." she continued. "I do hope you'll feel welcome here and will have no trouble making friends."

Gods, how fake can she act...

"What, did you already get tired of your friends?" the redhead asked, her ironic question catching Isa's attention.

"It's called being nice, Ara, you should try it." Isa said just as Luke placed his hand on her shoulder. In theory, it was a nice supportive gesture, but, for Ara, it was a sickening view.

"It wouldn't hurt you being nice for once. You could start with this boy, he seems friendly." Isa added.

"Great, then you wouldn't mind taking him from here," Ara put on her signature sarcastic smile, glancing between Isa and Luke, "Cause now I have to go vomit."

The brunette's expression shifted to an annoyed one. "Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed again, Ara, or did it become part of your personality?"

The redhead tilted her head, "Neither, it's simply the effect of your presence."

Seeing how the two sisters were already coming for each other's throats, more Ara than Isa, but it wasn't like the older sister was backing up, Luke figured it was time to intervene. "Girls, please, don't scare this kid from the start."

"You're right, you're enough..." the redhead mumbled loud enough for the three to hear her.

If there was a person who annoyed Ara more than Isabella, it was Luke. Despite the fact she always saw the two of them together and it made her physically sick, there was this arrogant energy that Ara could not resist the urge to insult. Therefore, she tried to put a good distance between Isa and Luke, but, given the circumstance, there was no reason she couldn't just enjoy pissing him off.

Luke rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore the girl and turn his attention on Percy, extending his arm for him to shake.

"I'm Luke," he said. "I'm gonna be your counselor for now."

"For now?" the blonde asked.

"Well, you're undetermined," he explained. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors since Hermes, the cabin's patron, is the god of travelers."

Percy took a few moments to think about it. "Chiron said we were gonna be cabin mates." he glanced at Ara. "So, are you a daughter of Hermes or still unclaimed?"

At that moment, no one answered. There was heard some laughter from a few noisy kids, which, once again, made Ara feel out of place.

"No. It's... more complicated." she responded.

"My sister and I have been staying in cabin eleven since we got here, despite not being daughters of Hermes." Isabella jumped in, and, for the first time, the redhead didn't mind her doing so. "It's a home for all demigods, made so no one could feel excluded."

Wrong! Ara almost thought out loud. In all her time at camp, she felt nothing but exclusion. She was a claimed child living between Hermes and undetermined kids, and that brought her nothing but loneliness.

Percy looked around, scanning the cabin. "So, how long will I be here?" he asked.

"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."

The blonde narrowed his eyes. "How long will that take?" he asked, making all the campers laugh.

"Come on," Ara intervened, turning to Percy. "I'll show you the volleyball court."

"I've already seen it."

"Come on!" she grabbed his wrist and dragged the boy outside, laughter from the kids of cabin eleven coming from behind them.

"You need to do better than that, Jackson!" Ara began saying once they were away from campers. "You can't act like a clueless puppy in front of these kids. They'll eat you alive."

"Oh, I'm sorry for being confused by all of this." Percy started defending himself, using an ironic tone. "After almost getting killed at once with my mother by a monster who wore pants and ending up in this place where Greek mythology is considered real, I have no reason to be confused."

Percy took a deep breath, as if he just released a heavy burden. All that time, he had been holding the minotaur horn, and, at that moment, he gazed down, looking sadly at it.

"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy." Ara confessed. "But don't act so casual about killing the Minotaur. Kids here would give anything to get that opportunity."

"The opportunity to get killed?!"

"To prove themselves." she corrected him. "Some spend their entire lives waiting for a chance like this. You don't just run into the Minotaur."

"Why do you keep saying 'the'?" Percy questioned before falling into thoughts. "You don't actually mean the Minotaur..."

"Yeah, Percy. You've killed the Minotaur, the same one Theseus did."

"But that was like a gazillion years ago... Shouldn't he be dead?"

"Monsters don't die. They can be killed. But they don't actually die." Ara explained, but she only seemed to confuse Percy more and more.

"Geez, is this something that's not supposed to confuse me, either?"

Ara couldn't help but sigh in annoyance, "They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime, if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they re-form."

"You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword-" Percy sounded worried.

"The Fur..." Ara had to stop herself from using that word. It was bad for any demigod to say it, but from a child of Hades, it had a much bigger impact. "I mean, your math teacher. Yes, she's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."

Percy narrowed his eyebrows, "How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"

"You don't just drool when you sleep..."

Despite his urge to roll his eyes, Percy asked, "You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"

Ara felt a slight wave of nervousness washing over her. She looked down at the ground, getting the feeling it could split any minute.

"Did no one ever tell you not to throw names like that? Do you want all Hades to break loose here?" she sounded mad, which made Percy wonder why she seemed so upset by the subject, but he got the feeling it wasn't the right time to ask.

"Is there anything I can say around here without thundering?" he started to sound annoyed, like really annoyed, which, unintentionally, made Ara use a similar tone.

"Thundering is not the only thing you should worry about..." she said, knowing very well that there were worse outcomes than making Zeus angry. "You need to learn your place here, Jackson, and watch your words. The gods will not grant you special treatment just because you killed off the Minotaur. In their eyes, you're still nothing exceptional."

"I don't care what the gods grant me, I don't want anything from them! I didn't ask to fight that bull and as sure as hell didn't ask for this. All I've ever needed was my mom, so my father, whoever he might be, can mind his own life and leave me to mind my own business."

"Gods, I can't believe Annabeth actually thinks you're special." Ara rolled her eyes, which only made the boy more pissed off. "Look, Percy, I've already told you, I'm sorry about your mom, I really am, but don't think you're the only one here who has lost someone. You are just another sad tragic case who happened to survive. Welcome to demigod life. It's sucks, and it's only the beginning."

"What's your problem?" Percy furrowed his eyes. "From the start, you've been sarcastic and mean, and, from what I've seen, that is your nice level, but I've done nothing to you, so, please, stop with the little comments and insults, cause this is the last thing I need right now."

Gods, he was so clueless...

"Don't think you have me figured out, new guy. As I've said, you don't know me, so let me give you a little heads-up. Don't expect anything of me, cause I'm only nice to those who deserve it."

Percy narrowed his eyes. "You make it sound as if what you're doing is fair, but judging me as a bad guy from the start is not wrong?" the blonde pointed out, and, in a way, he was right. But what he hadn't realized yet was that she figured out that he was responsible for her fate.

Suddenly, a familiar annoying voice made Ara turn around.

"Well! A newbie!" Clarisse shouted, approaching her and Percy with three more kids after her.

"Great," the redhead sighed. "The real-life angry birds just got here."

The big girl had a challenging expression on her face, like she was gonna enjoy beating them up. And she had her eyes fixed on the blonde boy.

"She doesn't look friendly." Percy mumbled.

"What makes you say that...?" she asked, sarcastically.

"It's always great to get new meat around here." the brunette girl joked, even if she definitely meant it.

"Clarisse," Ara spoke up, "why don't you go torture someone else with your presence?"

"Sure, I don't want to scare you off more than I already do, Princess." Clarisse raised her eyebrows as her lips curled into a smile.

"Ha," the redhead smirked, amused by her statement, "you wish."

"Come on, Salvatore, don't you think I know this is why you don't participate in capturing the flag?" Clarisse seemed to want to challenge her, so, obviously, Ara was not gonna back down.

She raised her eyebrows in a contradicting way, "Who said I'm not...?"

"Then I can't wait to pulverize you Friday night." Clarisse said in her threatening tone which had no effect on Ara, whatsoever.

The brunette then turned to Percy and asked, "Who's this little runt?"

"Percy Jackson," Ara said, gesturing towards the girl with an annoyed look, "meet the 'sweet' Clarisse La Rue, Daughter of Ares."

The boy blinked, like that was the weirdest thing he'd heard in his life. "Like... the war god?"

Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that, punk?"

"No," he said, looking her up and down. "It explains the bad smell."

For the first time, Ara actually found his joke funny, but she didn't show it.

Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."

"Percy." he corrected her.

"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."

"Clarisse-" Ara tried to intervene, but was immediately cut off by the brunette, who sent her a glare.

"Stay out of it, death girl."

Ara wanted to stop her, since she knew the fate he had coming, but the look in Percy's eyes told her he didn't want her help. Maybe he wanted to take her advice and not be a helpless puppy. He wanted to earn his own rep.

He then handed the redhead his minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but, in less than a second, Clarisse took him by the neck and dragged him inside the girls' bathroom.

This is not gonna end well...

Ara followed them, watching Clarisse and her friends laughing at the blonde boy. "Like he's 'Big Three' material," she said as she pushed Percy toward one of the toilets. "Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid-looking."

Her friends snickered. Ara stood in the corner, starting to feel worried. Hang on, it's not like they're gonna kill him...

Clarisse bent over on Percy's knees and started pushing his head toward the toilet bowl as he fought to keep his head up.

Then something happened. The plumbing rumbled, the pipes shuddered, catching everyone's attention. Clarisse's grip on the boy's hair loosened. Then, in the blink of an eye, water shot out of the toilet, making an arc right over Percy's head and hitting Clarisse straight in the face. The girl let out a scream as the water kept coming at her, wetting her from head to toe.

She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming toward her. But then the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back, next to their friend.

The showers started acting up, too, and, before Ara could even take a step back, water shot onto her, too, making her look like she just took a bath in the lake.

Once the water stopped coming for them, Clarisse and her group sprinted out the door after sending Percy killer glances.

The entire bathroom was flooded. Ara was dripping wet, and yet, Percy was completely dry, not even a single drop on his clothes. There was a circle of dry floor around him, unlike any other part of the bathroom.

Ara stared at him in shock. She was scanning the boy, narrowing her eyes because of the water that was rolling on her face.

Percy stood up, his legs shaky. He looked at the girl like he was begging her not to kill him for what happened.

"How did you...?" Ara asked. Her mind was trying to find an explanation for everything, but, at that moment, all she could do was ask.

Percy shook his head, looking just as confused as her, "I don't know."

Ara glanced outside to see Clarisse and her friends sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage. She gave Percy a look of absolute hatred. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."

"You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth." the blonde said, surprising Ara with his courage.

Clarisse's friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet.

Ara stared at the boy. Now that she had a little time to process what just happened, the girl was pretty sure she had seen everything she needed to prove her theory. But that wasn't the right time.

"What?" Percy asked, noticing her thoughtful gaze. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking," she said, "Annabeth will be pissed she didn't see this."

___

"He did what?!" the Athena girl questioned, having to hold herself from shouting.

The two girls met at the archery range where Ara mostly lost time. In the years she'd spent at camp, Chiron noticed her talent and even gifted her a golden necklace with a bow and arrows as pendants which, magically, changed their form into an actual bow with arrows when she ripped it from her neck and, after she was done, it somehow went back to being a normal jewel around her neck. Ara didn't fully understand how it worked, but she was not complaining. It was the best gift she'd ever gotten.

"Long story short, he blasted the toilets. Literally." Ara sighed, playing with her necklace. Her hair was still a little wet from earlier. "If there was a god of toilets, he'd definitely be his son."

Annabeth cracked a smile before returning to her thoughtful look. "That's an unusual power..."

Until that moment, the girls had come down to three possible gods (one which Annabeth didn't agree with, or, more likely, didn't want to agree with).

"He's not a child of Hermes!" Ara rolled her eyes. "They pickpockets, not flash toilets on Clarisse."

"Okay, fine, with that, I agree." the brunette's expression became more worried. "That leaves us with the worrying option."

"Options." she corrected, making Annabeth roll her eyes.

"Ara, let's not assume something even worse. It's bad enough if Z—, I mean, The Lord of the Sky had another child."

"He controlled the water." Ara pointed out. "Zeus kids don't do that..."

"Their abilities vary. I once saw Thalia control the wind so much, it almost took a monster away in a tornado."

"Wind isn't the same thing as water, Annabeth." the redhead gave her friend a stern expression. "Why are you dreading so much the thought of The God of the Sea breaking the oath? It's not like he'd be the only one..."

Annabeth looked at her with worry. Even if the redhead was right, it didn't make it any better. Some might assume that after Zeus had Thalia and Hades had both Isabella and Arabella, the promise between the three most powerful gods was already broken, so what was the point in still trying to live by it, but the brunette knew the consequences, for she was aware of something Ara wasn't.

"The Oath the Big Three took wasn't for no reason, Ara." the girl began explaining. "You are seen as a threat. The gods agreed that none of you should even be born. That's how powerful you are."

"I'm flattered..." Ara mumbled.

"And to have multiple children from all of them, that would lead to actual destruction, even to a war..."

For a moment, Annabeth's words sounded a little extreme, but the seriousness and concern on her face made the redhead begin to think it wasn't such a long shot.

"So, let me get this straight," Ara said, narrowing her eyes. "We all might go to war just because the three most powerful gods in the universe couldn't keep it in their pants...?"

Annabeth raised her eyebrows, as if she was just realizing a simple fact. After a few seconds of silence, she slightly nodded, "That's not how I would've put it, but, yeah, I guess."

"Well, that's stupid." Ara sighed.

"But it's still the reality. What I can't figure out is why they're playing with something as big as this when they know what it will lead to..."

The brunette stopped, as if she just realized she had told the world's biggest secret to the only person she should've kept it from.

"This is about the Big prophecy, isn't it?" Ara realized why she had been so determent to deny that horrible possibility. "All of this is about that damn prophecy I can't know anything about."

"Ara..."

"If it's as horrible as you imply, why can't you just tell me? Especially if it might be about me. If you'd just tell me, maybe I could do something to avoid it or even stop it."

"That's exactly what you should not do, Ara. That's why Chiron forbade me to tell you or anyone else for that matter. No one should intervene with fate. Trying to stop it will only make things worse."

Ara furrowed her eyebrows, "So leaving me in the dark is the best option you have?"

"It might not be about you..." the brunette said, her voice sounding like she was hoping.

The redhead tilted her head as she raised her brows, "Well, there aren't many forbidden children around here..."

Annabeth did not argue about that. She knew the truth, Isa was gonna turn sixteen in a few months, which crossed her off the list, Thalia was a tree, and there was no other possible known demigod except Ara. The burden would most likely fall on her shoulders.

"Ara, if this prophecy is about you, which I can't deny, it's most likely." she said with a pained voice. "You'll know what to do when the time comes. I know you will."

The redhead sighed. She was clearly not fond of being left out. "Yeah... thanks for the help."

Annabeth pursed her lips together, regretting what she had to do. "Ara, I truly wish I could tell you. You're..." her tone was so hurt by the thought of Ara having to be the chosen one, "you're my best friend. I wouldn't keep this from you if it wouldn't be for your own good."

The redhead looked to her left, thoughtful. The possibility of her being the child of the prophecy made her uneasy. She couldn't even leave the camp, how was she going to face something even Chiron was dreading?

She considered that Isa might also be the one, but there seemed to be no threat at the moment, so her sister had a big chance to get a free pass. Truthfully, that relieved Ara. Yes, she didn't have the best relationship with her sister, but she didn't want to see her struggling with such a heavy burden. And she definitely couldn't stand the thought of something unfortunate happening to her.

"Hey," Annabeth's voice brought her back to reality, "it'll be okay. I'm gonna be by your side through anything."

That made Ara crack a genuine smile. "Thank you..."

"Arrow!"

In a blazing moment, Ara turned in the direction the brunette was staring when she yelled and saw an arrow flying right in her direction really fast. She wouldn't have had time to move out of its direction, but, thankfully, her powers came in hand. She raised her hand and, right when the arrow would've harmed her, she stopped it, staring at the sharp thing close to her eyes.

After a few seconds, when the shock slightly wared off, she disintegrated it and looked around to see all the campers with their eyes big, staring at her with shock and concern.

"Okay, which talented Merida did this?" she asked, scanning the surroundings until her gaze landed on a certain dirty blonde-haired boy whose blue eyes were staring at her in shock and fear.

Percy was lying on the ground, holding his bow. A brunette boy and girl were standing next to him while also staring at Ara.

Now that was a trio I never thought I'd see...

The redhead could swear she thought Percy asked Luke and Isa if he should run, but the older girl just shouted, "Newbie first try. Nothing to see here!"

Luke tried to help him up when Percy asked, "Should I try again...?"

At the sound of his question, everyone shouted "No!"

Next thing he knew, Isa and Luke basically dragged Percy away from the archery range. Before he disappeared through the campers, the blonde gave Ara an embarrassed and sorry look, as if he was apologizing for a lifetime of wrongs, which he should.

The girl sighed as she turned back to face Annabeth. "I've told you, he's a lost cause!" Ara mumbled, annoyed.

"Well... we just have to find something he's good at." the Athena girl said.

"Why do you care so much about this kid?" she scoffed. "Look at him! He's like a lost chicken. He doesn't know what world he's in more than half the time."

The brunette gave her friend a thoughtful look, "After seeing what he can do and how much Clarisse hates him now, I think I have an idea to win Capture the Flag."

Annabeth tilted her head, giving Ara her 'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?' look. After all the years they'd spent together, the redhead was more than used to it and, since they had a similar way of thinking, it didn't take long for her to realize what she was planning.

"I'm certain I know what you're thinking of, but I really don't think we should rely on 'mistery boy'. It will be like sending a pig into slaughter, so unless you want him to become Ares meat, it's not gonna end well."

Annabeth slightly nodded, knowing Ara had a point, but the girl was persistent. "As I've said, we just gotta find what he's good at..."

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☽

(6,789 words)

DEDICATIONS

blacksired02 andreea_aa_02
(i'm remaking this list, so if anyone else wants to be added, let me know;))

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AUTHOR'S NOTE
Hi, my lovely readers!!!
Sorry for the long wait, but from now on I'm gonna start posting regularly since school is finally over and it's not invading all my free time. I'm so happy to be back!!
Tysm for reading, ily all, and don't forget to vote and comment cause I love reading all your opinions and it does wonders for motivation ;)
Hope y'all liked this chapter.<33

~elenaswanwp