This is my first fanfiction that doesn't focus on a Godlike POV (in short, only focus on one POV instead of everyone's POV). And you might be thinking, why Tratie? Well, it is because they don't feel that much love in the fanfiction community. Most of the time, every time I open the site, the only stories I always see is all about Percabeth or Solangelo. So, I knew I had to change it up a bit.
The other reason why I want to do this kind of story is that I find the plot of a Tratie fanfic practically the same as the last one:
Good proper girl hates pranks a lot guy guy does stupid things to impress girl it works (for some reason) slowly falls in love kiss etc.
And, for me, being the same = being lame. So, I want to make it as interesting as possible. So, here I am! Now, here is chapter one! And, always take note: I don't own these guys.
Chapter 1: Trashed Vans
The days of Camp Half Blood are like any other day. The campers are laughing while doing camp activities, the satyrs are helping with strawberry fields, campers coming back full of blood and gold dust from their quest, Chiron telling off the Stoll brothers about their last extreme prank. Everything is going exactly as they should be doing. But that all changed when the head councilor of the Demeter Cabin, Katie Gardner, screamed at the top of her lungs.
Under normal circumstances, her screaming is normal in her cabin. And, often times it is because of two things: forgetting about her garden duties or seeing that her cabin is once again the target of the Stoll's idiotic pranks. Either way, she would really scream about it. But, this time, it wasn't either of the two. It was because of a letter addressed to her from her father.
Miranda Gardiner, one of Katie's half-sister, walked inside her half-sister's room, apparently expecting her to see her half-sister in a hurry to get back to the garden or in rage with what the Stolls had done this time. What she didn't expect was the look of depression that her half-sister is showing.
"What's wrong?" She asked Katie.
Her half-sister didn't talk and instead gave the letter she received. Miranda took the letter and starts to read it. "Dear Katie. How are you doing?" She started. "I am doing fine here in your grandparents' barn. I wanted to talk to you about this through an Iris message, but I ran out of drachmas you have left this summer. So, I am going to give my big announcement here. An old friend of mine in college said that they were looking for people to recruit for a big environmental project and they wanted me to help them in the project!"
Being closely acquainted with Kaite's dad, Miranda cheered. "Way to go, Mr. Gardner!" She looked at Katie and frown. "Why are you upset about this? This is great news!"
"Just keep reading." She replied.
Miranda continued her reading. "This job is going to be life-changing for both of us! That is why I instantly said yes. My job is going to be in Boston, and I want you to come along with me and continue your studies there. I want you to be there with me."
At these words, Miranda paused. She knew how much Katie loved her school. It is no wonder why she is upset. Nevertheless, she continued reading. "Please Iris message me about what you think about my job. I missed you so much and I am excited to hear what you have to say about it. Hope to see you soon. Your dad, Mark Gardner."
Awkward silence filled the air after Miranda finished the letter and gave it back to Katie. It was only broken when Miranda asked. "Did you IM him yet?" Katie shook her head. "I don't know what to say to him. I'm happy that he got a job and all, but—"
"—You don't want to leave your place?" Miranda cut in, to which Katie nodded.
"I grew up there. My dad grew up there. My grandparents grew up there. I met all of my best friends there. I killed my first monster there. There is no way I could tell him that it is ok that we leave my grandparent's house." Katie said to her. To this, Miranda just sighed and shook her head. "Katie, aren't you being a bit too selfish about this?"
"What—" Katie tried to talk, but Miranda cut her off.
"I mean, I know it is none of my business and all, but isn't it your dad's dream of becoming someone great in the agricultural department? And, he almost had that dream too. But, he threw his dream away and lived a quiet life with your grandparents just so that he could raise you properly." Katie flinched at these words. Who knew telling Miranda about her dad's almost big success in the Agricultural world would bite her in the butt one day?
"And now that he has a chance to finally follow his dream with you in it, you are just going to destroy it just because you are too selfish to go with him to Boston?" Katie could have gotten mad at Miranda for calling her selfish, but what she just said was true. This may be her dad's only chance of ever having his dream, and all she is doing is breaking just for the sake of being with friends.
"You are right, Miranda. I am being a bit selfish about this. I think I should go talk to him about this and see how we could manage to get some of my plants from Kansas to Boston." Miranda clapped her hands. "That's the spirit! How about we go to Cabin 12? I heard they just made a great tasting apple juice."
"If I ask, can I come along?" Said a very cheerful Connor Stoll as his head appeared from her window. At the sight of the first half of the Stoll brothers, Katie's face distorted into a glare. "What are you doing here, Stoll?" She hissed at him.
"Nice to meet you too, little miss sunshine of Cabin 4." Connor said with a grin, which made Katie glare even more. "And, like I said, I heard you guys are going to Pollex's cabin, and I was wondering if I could come along." He asked to the daughters of Demeter with a dazzling smile that looks exactly like his dad, Hermes. Charmed, Miranda was about to say yes when Katie cut her off.
"There is no way will we ever let you come anywhere near us." She said to him in a stern tone. "And, where is that brother of yours? I thought you two were inseparable?" She asked. Connor made a fake huff. "For your information, I take with myself, thank you very much." He said to them. "And, if you are looking for Travis, he is sitting next to you this hold time.
Katie turned and gasped. There was Travis Stoll, sitting next to her in bed while reading a piece of paper. She would have yelled at him first, but then she noticed that the paper he was reading looks really familiar. She looked at her own hands and found that her letter was gone, and only then did Katie and Miranda realized that Travis was actually reading the letter from her dad.
Furious, Katie looked at him and said, with a tone of utmost anger. "I will give you a count of one to three, Travis. If you don't give me that letter, I will—" But what she will do with Travis was never known as Travis instantly stands up and gives her the paper. "Here." He said, giving Katie her letter.
At this, everyone, even Connor, stared in shock. "Wha—" Miranda wanted to asked, only that Travis instantly walked to the window and whispered something to Connor. After that, Connor's eyes widen and he nodded. And, without warning, they left with not one witty remark.
The two stared blankly at the window to where Travis jumped off to. "Wait, wut?" Miranda said, out of shock. "Did we just see that right?" Katie couldn't believe what she just saw either. It was already strange enough that Travis was able to get inside her room and sit between them without them noticing, but to see him not insulting is really beyond weird. It feels like the world would end anytime soon!
"Let's agree that we never saw anything in this room." Katie said to her.
"Agreed." Miranda instantly agreed. "So, Cabin 12 quality apple juice?" She asked. Katie nodded. "Yeah, just give me a sec. I'm going to call my dad first." Miranda nodded and left as Katie took out her drachma to call her dad.
After IMing her dad, Katie became somewhat excited about going. Her dad had already arrangements with her school about her transfer documents. Though it would be sad to leave all of her friends behind, she is still happy for her dad that he can finally get the job that he really wanted. Her dad wasn't that dark though. He told her to go back to her grandparent's place first after camp is over so that she can say her goodbyes to all of her friends. Overall, their talk was great.
She still couldn't get that weird event that happened in her room. It has been weeks already since the event, and yet both Travis and Connor never once made a prank on her. In these weeks, no one could see Travis anywhere and the only time you will see Connor is when he is doing his head councilor duties. At first, the campers thought they are just making a really big prank on someone, which of course made some campers worry.
But, when the almost every day pranking Stoll brothers didn't do anything for 2 weeks, everyone started to panic. Some of old campers were even freaking out as to why they aren't doing anything. It was only then that Chiron talked to Connor. It was announced later that night that Travis was just sick and Connor was tending him, which is why they weren't doing any pranks. The following day, Travis got better and they were back to their pranking.
And, now it is already the end of summer, and Katie still has those thoughts in her mind. She just finished packing and was already filling up the notice that she wouldn't be staying in camp. But something was bothering her, though: Why was Travis acting so strange all of the sudden? Why did he look like he was panicking after he had read her letter?
She was so out of focus, that she didn't notice the Stolls taking her luggage and leaving the room. Only when she was done writing, did she notice her missing luggage. She looked around and noticed the muddy footprint on her window.
She cursed. She knew that she should think that the Stoll will not stop pranking her. Of course, she has made a precaution with if ever they will try to steal her luggage. With a help of a certain son of Hephaestus, her luggage has a living little rose inside of it. Using her own powers, she concentrated and tried to detect where her luggage is.
Moments later, both Travis and Connor were both hanging upside down with vines holding their legs as Katie took her luggage back. "How on earth do keep finding us!" Travis said, trying to free himself from the vines. Katie looked up after she was done checking and smirk. "That is for me to know, and for you two to find out." She said before taking her luggage and started walking away.
"At least get us out of here!" Connor begged.
She just laughed and continued on her way. But, when she got back to her cabin, some of her siblings who were also not full time campers were sitting at the entrance of their cabin with faces of frustration.
"What's wrong? I thought you guys were already gone." Katie asked Jane, a pretty little girl with a bandana wrapped around her ponytail. "We were a while ago, till we discovered that the camp van wasn't here yet." Jane said with annoyance.
"Really?" Katie asked.
"Yeah, all of the vans. They said the vans were just delivering strawberries—" Jane words were cut off by the sound of the couch. Everyone rushed up to Thalia's tree, only to find all of the van being torn apart by three Hydras while several sons of Hermes fought them off. After the other campers helped out in the battle, the three beasts were destroyed without any casualties except to the already trashed up vans.
It was then discovered that those sons of Hermes were actually using the vans for a joy ride after sending off their other siblings before everyone else. Furious, Chiron punished them to not only cleaning with the harpies for six months, they are also forced to do mandatory work to help out the Hephaestus cabin save some of the salvageable parts of the destroyed vans.
Katie screamed in frustration. It is already irritating enough that the Stolls were targeting her all of the time, now their entire cabin seems to be making sure that she wouldn't leave camp! Chiron sighed and told the non-year rounders to wait for a week or so before they will escorted out to the city. While the others just nodded and decided to wait for a week, the other campers decided to call their parents to pick them up instead, with Katie being one of them.
That night, almost everyone seems to be giving the Hermes cabin a mean look as they walk to their tables. It is quite understandable, since it was their fault that most of them can't go back to their homes. Some of the Ares kids even bump the little ones as they walk towards them. Katie would have been concerned about them, if it wasn't that fact that she was one of those people who couldn't go because of them!
The Hermes cabin, however, seems to be taking everything just fine. They are talking and joking around as if nothing has happened. Another weird thing that the daughter of Demeter noticed is that not everyone seems to be mad at them. It would make sense to those campers who have boyfriends and girlfriends in the Hermes cabin would not make things that happen into such a big deal. What confused her is that both the Hephaestus cabin and the Athena cabin aren't that affected by what happen like the other cabins.
She would get that Cabin 10 and Cabin 11 would get along most of the time, but she never figure out how the Athena cabin would be fine with what happen. She then saw Malcolm, the head councilor of the Athena cabin, looked at Travis and gave him a nod. He then looked at Connor, in a very guilty look. Connor sighed and just patted his brother's back. The older Stoll smiled and continued eating.
This made Katie wonder if the Stolls had something to do with what happen to the vans. But, it will leave everything with questions. Why did they do it? Why go as far as destroying the camp's van? If the Hephaestus Cabin and the Athena Cabin are all alright with what happen, does that mean they are in on the whole "destroying the vans" plan too?
This made Katie really paranoid. She knew it. That's why she tried to forget about it. It is all too silly to think about the Stolls. And, why should she think about them so much? Ever since they met, Travis did nothing but to make her camp life as miserable as possible and Connor is no different from his brother.
It is best to not get involved with them in any way possible. She left the dining pavilion, but after walking a few meters away, an IM appeared in front of her. When the image cleared up, the image of her grandmother appeared. And, by the way she looked, Katie feels like she brings bad news.
"Katie, dear. Did I call in a bad time?" Her grandmother asked.
"No, grandma. I just finished eating. Why did you call?" Katie asked back.
"Dear, I called to tell you that your father can't pick you up tomorrow." This revelation caused a frown to Katie's face. "Why is that? I thought he was alright a couple of hours ago. Did something bad happen to him?" She asked, now worried of her father's state.
"No! Nothing's wrong. He is alive and well. It is just that he is going to be busy for the next couple of days in his work." Her grandma replied.
"Work? I thought his work doesn't start until the first day of class?" She asked.
"It doesn't. But, the company that wants to hire your dad suddenly has to drop some of their employees because of budget cuts. Because of that, his friend isn't sure that he can help your dad get the job that easily. That is why your dad is going to take his job application into the company personally. But, with his age and experience, I don't know whether he will be hired by the company or not."
Her grandma's words caused her heart to turn into lead. Just as she already accepted that fact that they are going to leave, this happens! She wants to cry in frustration, but she knew she can't do that right now. Not with her grandmother looking at her. She needs to be strong, even if it is just for a while.
"So, who will take me home then?" She asked her grandma.
"Your grandfather told me that he would do it. I do believe that he misses his little Katie." Her grandma told her, with made both of them laugh. She knew how much of her grandfather loves her. So, it wouldn't count as a surprise that he would be outraged when he hears that his little granddaughter didn't come home sooner.
"I can't wait to see him. See you soon, Grandma! I love you!" She said, waving at the fading IM image.
"See you in a couple of da—" Her grandmother's voice was cut off by the arrival of her grandfather.
"IS THAT KATIE! DON'T FADE AWAY YET! I WANT TO SEE HE—" And the IM image disappeared.
She made a small giggle before sighing of what happen to her father's work.
What do things like that happen to good people?
And, that's that with Chapter 1! Hope you liked it! If you do, please Favorite it and Review what you think about it. If you have anything you want to ask, Review about it too!
Also, please check my other PJO fanfic, "Crossing the Multiverse". I had that going for a long time, and it is an interesting story to check out!
Just so you will get hooked for the next chapter, here is a bit of what to expect in the next chapter:
Katie was just finishing reading her book, when her grandmother called from downstairs. "Katie! There is a man in a business suit that wants to talk to you!" Her grandma said out loud. Katie frowns. Their farm is far from the main city. Sure, some salesmen would come and sell their stuff here, every once in a while. But, if your house is one hour drive from town, no one would even think of going to your place, much less wearing a business suit.
Katie could therefore conclude that this is part of her other life, her life as a demigod. And, this "man in a business suit" could be either two beings: a monster who wants to kill you and drink your blood, or a god who wants to ask you a favor (quest) that involves a monster that wants to kill you and drink your blood. Either way, Katie knew she was screwed.
She took her hairpin from her drawer, and walked downstairs. As expected, her grandmother is already in the kitchen, without a doubt preparing something for their "guest". She exhales a deep breath and open the door, and who she saw was not the person she would expect to knock at her door.
The middle-aged man has built like an athletic figure-slim and fit with curly salt-and-pepper hair, blue eyes, elfish features, and a sly grin that will make you say that he knows what to say in every occasion. It was the kind of grin that she despises the most, as she always see this kind of smile every time two brothers would go to her cabin and prank on her just for fun.
Yep, he is the Stolls' dad alright.
Hermes, the God of Messengers, Travelers, and Thieves.
"Katie! I was just in the neighborhood, and thought I would pay you a visit." Hermes said, with his carefree voice. "Can I come in?"
Does Katie really have a choice?
Interesting, right?
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