Title: Magic, Rainbows, and 100 Pound Puppies
Author: Susie the Tree
Rating: K+ (probably won't change)
Fandom: Percy Jackson & The Olympians (obviously)
Summary: Friends in places you'd never expect; enemies out in the open. How does one measure the distance from my heart to yours? How long before I run out of gas?
Pairing(s): OC/Nico di Angelo & Juniper/Grover
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the canon character's mentioned in this story. I only own Maisie Lewis, my original character (OC), and any OC's that may pop up after her. I do not profit from creating this in anyway.
A.N: I also don't take credit for the quotes I'll put to begin every chapter. For this one, credit goes to Anne Frank. Rest in peace.
Enjoy! ;3D
~"Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness." ~ Anne Frank
"Lou, I'm not so sure this is a good idea!" murmured Maisie, her voice quivering slightly. Lou shook her head firmly, a gesture which here means* 'You have no choice.' She stooped down, and held out her hands like someone would if they were helping someone else climb up a tree.
Maisie looked at Lou's hands fearfully. She understood that Lou was trying to be a good friend, and she was. It wasn't Lou's fault that Maisie wouldn't cooperate. Sadly, Maisie also understood that because Lou was so talented in her field of magic, if she tried hard enough, she could will Maisie's body to move. She only asked for Maisie's permission to be polite.
Which meant, as Lou's shake of the head confirmed, she had no choice. Why not stall for time?
Lou, on the other hand, was growing impatient. For starters, no one who's already 13 should be afraid of climbing trees. Not only is it illogical, it's dreadfully inconvenient when you're running from monsters.
And half-bloods are always being chased by monsters.
Lou understood that she was being a little pushy, but both of them knew she could be much pushier. Besides, it was for Maisie's own good. Lou just wished the girl would stop looking at her outstretched hands like they were...bombs or something. If Lou was going to to explode anything, she would not be so tacky as to do it with bombs.
Maisie took a deep breath. She put one foot on Lou's palm, every breath now short, quick and...breathy. Lou's eye's lit up, excited that Maisie was trying now.
"Come on, Maze..." she muttered. Just one more foot...
Maisie's breath got quicker and quicker as she put the second foot up. Lou grinned and grimaced at the same time. She was happy Maisie had finally begun to let go of her fear, but Maisie's presence on her palm had put added strain on her wrists.
Concentrating hard, she uttered a quick levitation spell. Maisie shrieked and flailed, but was unable to resist Lou's influence. The young brunette rose higher and higher until she reached the middle of the tree. Clinging on to a branch, her frightened form watched as Lou prepared to climb up behind her.
In less than five minutes, Lou was at the middle of the tree, comforting Maisie's quivering body in her arms.
"You did well, Maisie..." whispered Lou. Maisie gave her a withering glare. Lou sighed.
"Yeah, I sure it probably was scary, but was it as bad as you thought it would be?" she asked patiently.
Maisie thought hard.
Maisie wasn't very frank with her opinions, but Lou was the only one who ever asked for them. She owed it to her friend to be honest.
"No. It was actually kind of fun - at least some deranged sort of fun..." she mumbled in her soft English accent.
Just those words made Lou feel very proud of herself. According to her, Maisie just jumped what Lou assumed as a large hurdle in her life. Lou was only 2 years older than Maisie, but she often felt like she had become Maisie's older-sister-like figure without noticing it. The girls didn't even have the same godly parent, but they were as close as blood sisters. Lou Ellen was a daughter of Hecate, goddess of magic, whilst Maisie Lewis was a daughter of Iris, goddess of Rainbows.
Magic and Rainbows. What a "deadly" combination...
Lou looked at her timepiece. It doubled as her offensive wand, but it served it's purpose just fine as a way of telling time. At that moment, the girls had 15 minutes to get ready for lunch.
And the two of them smelled atrocious.
It wasn't their fault they smelled that way-at least, it wasn't Maisie's.
Lou had played a trick on the Hermes Cabin, as revenge for trying to trick her into eating pegasus droppings (they told her it was a brownie...). Every time someone from the Hermes Cabin tried to open the door and leave, they ended up in the same room they were attempting to escape. Every exit was now an entrance. It wore off, but the entire cabin was late for Breakfast.
Naturally, the Stolls had to retaliate against her. The night before the action though, Maisie had a bad dream. She'd been shaken badly, and after Lou pled with Chiron, he allowed Maisie to sleep in the bed above Lou's. In the morning, the two girls opened the door to leave, only to be covered in suspicious liquid.
Lou had to remember to consult the Nemesis Cabin before it got dark.
There would be no consequences for Lou for being dirty, she could easily cast a cleansing spell on herself and get the job done like nothing even happened. Maisie was another problem. She hated magic, at least when it was used for things you could do yourself.
So Lou decided to help her out.
"You know, Maisie, we only have 15 minutes until lunch and we aren't smelling that hot..." she blurted into the silence. Maisie looked at her, her eyes narrowed.
"Come on. I'll lower you down. We'll try on actually climbing tomorrow." said Lou, sounding much cheerier than she should.
Lou jumped down, about 12 feet, from the middle of the tree and made an odd gesture with her hands. She looked as if she were reeling in a large fish. Maisie shrieked once again, her misty black eyes wide. Lou held in laughter as she watched Maisie's flailing limbs find their way to the ground again, with the help of Lou. The younger girl still wasn't used to having no ground under her feet.
"You okay, Maisie?" called Lou.
Maisie stood up and glared, weakly as always. Lou grinned and dragged Maisie's small-ish body across the grass, stopping in front of a pink cabin, with pink steps, and pink curtains and a pink door-mat.
In other words - the Aphrodite Cabin.
Maisie didn't mind this. The daughters of Aphrodite were nice to her. They did smother her a lot, calling her 'adorable' and a 'cute-pie', but they were nice girls. The boys liked to tease her about her lack of upper body strength, though they only joked. The whole camp knew she only needed her legs to win a fight.
Lou swung open the door, tossed Maisie in, and closed it once again. In 13 minutes, it opened again, and Maisie looked the same as before, just cleaner.
Her brown hair was neatly brushed and untangled, her pale butterscotch skin was soft and clean, and she smelled nice, like pineapples. Maisie was still wearing her overalls from before, along with her sandals. Only this time of course, they were clean.
"You're welcome!" an Aphrodite boy shouted to Maisie from the window. She smiled timidly and waved.
"Lunch should be starting in about -"
"BRIIIIIING!" cried the bell, a signal for Lou to shut up. She rolled her eyes.
"Ready to go then?" she asked, curiously. Maisie was starting at the trees expectantly, as if she were waiting for some half-blood to pop out and knock her to the ground. Maisie nodded hesitantly.
After reaching the Mess Hall, the girls saw an odd scene. Actually, the whole camp did. The girls went to their separate tables. Lou went to see her half-sisters, all two of them. The girls, Rose and Shirley were twins, though born different years. Shirley was born on December 31st, at 11:59, while Rose was born January 1st, at 12:09.
Maisie went to sit with her half-brother, Butch. He was a sweetheart, but his size and shape were intimidating to others. He's about 6"1, give or take a few inches, with a lean muscled body. He can run extremely fast, but he's still not as swift on his feet as Maisie.
As Maisie blew on her pumpkin soup, she shrieked in surprise, causing the whole hall to stare at her. They all saw a young boy erupt out of a gray mist (that Maisie didn't think was ever there before) and fall in her lap. He had pale, olive-ish skin, with extremely dark brown hair, almost black. His eyes, though serious, were a bright, chocolatey brown.
In Maisie's mind, he seemed pretty nice.
"H-hi?" she said, stuttering softly. The boy grinned sheepishly, jumping of her lap quickly.
"Sorry. I normally get to choose were I land, but I guess not this time." He mumbled, glaring darkly at the ground. Sticking his hand out awkwardly to shake, he smiled.
"Nice to meet you. My name's Nico. Nico di Angelo."