Sylvia was pretty happy at dinner that night. Or, at least, she pretended to be while also missing Annabeth with her whole heart. 

The food was excellent as usual and stuff, since you can't really go wrong with barbecue, pizza, and never-empty vitamin water goblets (most of her siblings drank Capri Sun or Sunny D as a joke, but Sylvia didn't really like either). Turns out Fawkes ate anything Sylvia did, so getting her food wasn't a problem. The torches and braziers kept the outdoor pavilion warm. Everyone had to sit with their siblings, meaning Sylvia had to deal with Kayla's alto voice, Will almost cutting off his circulation by wrapping and unwrapping an Ace bandage around his wrist, and Austin sharpening his arrowheads. Lux sat beside her, every once in a while asking questions. 

Since it was sort of dark, Sylvia noticed how Lux sort of...glowed when they talked. In a very subtle way, but still. It was sort of how Fawkes was like, just toned down. She wondered if that was just a rare Apollo child ability or something.

Sylvia thought back to what Apollo said. Take care of Lux, they'll need it. She wondered what that was about.

"Hey Lux?" she said, quiet enough that only they would hear and none of their siblings.

"Yeah?"

"Did a satyr bring you to camp?"

"Yeah. His name was Glees-Gleeson, I thin-think."

"Gleeson Hedge? Old, violent satyr with a baseball bat-club thing?" she asked.

"Y-yep."

"He found me and Clarisse, too," Sylvia said.

"Really?"

"Mhm. We were trying to rob a Wendy's," Sylvia informed them, then grumbled, "and we would've succeeded, too, if he didn't come."

"Ho-how-how old were y-you two?" Lux asked.

"I was seven. She was eleven. Or maybe ten? I don't know. We got to camp when I was eight and she was eleven, though," Sylvia replied. "When did Gleeson find you?"

"Two weeks ago. I was on--on the streets of New York Cit--City, trying to fi-find some money."

"You were on the run?" Sylvia asked. 

Lux nodded, catching their green streaks in the light, making them flash for a moment. Sylvia blinked, and they were normal again.

Huh. What was that?

"How long have you been running for?" Sylvia asked, deciding maybe she really was as sleep-deprived as she told Will she was.

"Um...I ran away from Que-Que-Quebec when I was 10, and I'm almos-almost 13 now."

They're 12? Huh. Thought they were 9 or ten.

"Wait. You ran from Quebec to New York City?"

They nodded shyly. "I sto-stole some of my dads' money. Nei-neither of them noti-noticed until it was too l-late. I made it t-to Ontario witho-without any problem. Then, by the border into the U.S., I met a monster. It was some sort o-of dog. I asked Finn about them ear-earlier, and fae thinks it was a he-hell-hellhound. It attacked me. I didn't know what to do, so I punched it in the snout and climbed into its back. It did a weird thing where i-i-it  jump-jumped into the shad-dows and," they paused to shudder, "came out of a differ-different shadow all the way i-in Seattle."

Sylvia shivered. All children of Apollo despised the dark. Except Lee, because he was weird. She couldn't imagine travelling through a shadow.

"I escaped from it, because the sha-shadow thing tire-tired it out. I me-met a boy there, ac-actually. His name was Le-Leo. He was nice. He was als-also on the run, so we stayed together for-for a few months. Almost a yea-year, actually."

"You didn't run into many monsters?"Sylvia questioned incredulously. "Other than the hellhound, of course."

"There were a few things tha-that seemed not human, but whenever they looked at us, Le-Leo glared at them, and they'd look awa-away as we ran. The-then foster care found us. I-I don't know what happened next. I jus-just remember a bright fla-flash of light, and suddenly all three of the-them were on the ground, groa-groaning in pain. I tried to get Leo--Leo, but a mons-monster--"

"Hey, Via!" Austin said.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Can you tell us about your quest?" asked Kayla. "Will said you got that phoenix on it!"

Sylvia winced. She'd actually forgotten about Annabeth while talking to Lux.

"Sure," she said. She told them all about it, including how sweet Sally was. She left out the homophobic group, though. She didn't need them to know how she felt while that happened.

When she was done, they all looked considerably sadder.

Will opened his mouth to say something, probably to express his feelings, but was interrupted by Sylvia. "Oh, look, everyone's standing up. We should probably get back to our cabin. Chiron said we're having an early lights out tonight, right? We can just sing by ourselves in out cabin. C'mon!" she walked out.

Sylvia, you realize talking about your feelings would be good for you.

I don't care. I just want to sing. Forget about Annabeth for a bit. 

* * *

"Well, everyone, I think it'll be time for light's out in..." Sylvia took a moment to sense the time, "twenty-three minutes ago. Oops."

Lux, who hadn't sung the entire time and just played the piccolo flute--which they were awesome at, by the way, despite it being their first time playing any instrument in general other than a recorder--smiled. "Goo-good night, then."

"Do we have to?" complained Austin. Sylvia suddenly realized how many sassy pre-teens were in the room. Dad, did you suddenly have a strong urge to fall in love with every mortal you met? The age of everyone here is 10, 11, 12, 12, and 15. Michael is 14 and Lee is 17. Like, come on! "Can't we stay up later?"

"Austin, we've been singing and playing for over two hours. Will fell asleep forty-five minutes ago!" This was a common occurence with Will. He was able to sleep whenever, wherever. 

"Oh, fine," he said, yawning. 

Sylvia picked up Will and carried him into his bed, tucking him in. "Night y'all. Let's hope none of us get demigod nightmares tonight!"

"Aand you jinxed it," yawned Kayla as Sylvia turned the lights off.

Yes, they were already in their pajamas. Yes, that meant they were singing in their pajamas. It's comfier!

Sylvia laid down in her bed, Fawkes curled up beside her, hoping she'd be able to fall asleep quickly and not think about Annabeth for the entire night. Since she'd already gone many,many hours without sleep, she kinda needed it.

Good news: she fell asleep.

Bad news: she really did jinx it.

* * *

Darkness. Again. Sylvia wondered if she was having another dream about Ceol and Heracles. Then, as she took a closer look, she realized there was also fog. And--was that Annabeth?

She was on a dark hillside, shrouded by the aforementioned fog. It almost seemed like the closet Sylvia accidentally locked herself in one day when she was four, because she immediately felt claustrophobic. She couldn't see the sky above, which was worrying. There was just a close, heavy darkness, as if she was in a cave.

Annabeth struggled up the hill. Old broken Greek columns of black marble were scattered around, as though something had blasted a huge building to ruins.

"Thorn!" Annabeth cried. "Where are you? Why did you bring me here?" She scrambled over a section of broken wall and came to the crest of the hill.

She gasped.

There was Luke. And he was in pain. Sylvia had never really liked him, even before he went rogue. He always seemed too perfect. And, even though Annabeth thought of him as a brother and nothing more, she was still jealous back then that she spent almost all of her time when she wasn't with Sylvia with him. 

Luke was crumpled on the rocky ground, trying to rise. The blackness seemed to be thicker around him, fog swirling hungrily. His clothes were in tatters and his face was scratched and drenched with sweat.

"Annabeth!" he called. "Help me! Please!"

She ran forward. 

Sylvia tried to cey out: He's a traitor! Don't trust him!

But her voice didn't seem to work in the dream. Maybe it was making up for all the times it seemed to work too well.

Annabeth had tears in her eyes. She reached down like she wanted to grab his shoulder, but hesitated at the last second.

"What happened?" she asked.

"They left me here," Luke groaned. "Please. It's killing me."

No! Don't trust him! Sylvia thought. They'd never just leave him there! You're smart, Annabeth!

Sylvia couldn't see what was wrong with him. He seemed to be struggling against some invisible curse, as though the fog were squeezing him to death.

"Why should I trust you?" Annabeth asked, her voice filled with hurt.

"You shouldn't," Luke said. "I've been terrible to you. But if you don't help me, I'll die."

Let him die, Sylvia wanted to scream. He's a fucking manipulator! He's manipulating you right now! Saying he'll die! Acting as if he understands and knows you shouldn't trust him!

The darkness above Luke began to crumble, like a cavern roof in an earthquake. Huge chunks of black rock began falling. Annabeth rushed in--much to Sylvia's dismay--just as a crack appeared, and the whole ceiling dropped. She held it, being the strong teenager she was. She kept it from collapsing it on her and Luke just with her own strength.

Luke rolledfree, making Sylvia yell multiple curses in French at him in her head. "Thanks," he managed.

"Help me hold it," Annabeth groaned.

Luke caught his breath. His face was covered in grime and sweat. He rose unsteadily.

"I knew I could count on you." He began to walk away as the trembling blackness threatened to crush Annabeth, making Sylvia scream more swears in both French and Ancient Greek at him. 

"HELP ME!" she pleaded. All Sylvia wanted to do at that moment was murder Luke and take her burden. But she couldn't even more. She was just a bystander watching the scene unfold, unable to do anything.

"Oh, don't worry," Luke said. "Your help is on the way. It's all part of the plan. In the meantime, try not to die."

The ceiling of darkness began to crumble again, pushing Annabeth against the ground.

* * *

Sylvia's eyes flew open and her hands clawed at her sheets. She checked the time. 12:06. Just after midnight.

It was only a dream, but she was sure of three things: Annabeth was in terrible danger, Luke, Annabeth's fucking brother whom she loved and cared for so much was responsible, and Sylvia was going to find a way to save her.

Once again, mostly unedited (so sorry! My lazy butt is saying my bed looks very comfy rn!)

I have quite a bit of backstory for Lux. It'll all be revealed eventually. For now, here's a bit of it. 

Also, even tho Michael and Lee haven't shown up much or at all yet in this, I'll be so sad when I have to write their death scenes. The Apollo kids are so close and I just-

C r i

QOTD: Would you rather eat a watermelon slice or a few strawberries (both at maximum quality. Also I have no idea how I thought of this question, it just sorta popped outta my head)

A: Watermelon. It's one of my favourite foods

Cya later!

-Eevee