The Bronze Coin: All Rights to Rick Riordan
Chapter I: ANNABETH: He's A Cheater
The first thing Annabeth did when she caught her breath was run up the hill and punch Percy. Before he could fall over, she had him in a biggest hug, threatening to break his ribs, believing she could never let him go. Then she looked over to his two companions. It was Bianca and a girl who looked just like Percy.
"Bianca di Angelo? Grover said he'd found you with Percy. I thought he'd eaten one too many enchiladas, though!"
"Grover does like his enchiladas." the other girl answered, her face completely smooth and expressionless. Annabeth looked her over, hoping she would never get in a fight with her. The girl didn't look to be one of Ares's kids, (but sometimes you couldn't tell) but she was sturdy and confident enough to make Annabeth wonder how good of a fighter she was.
"Annabeth?" Percy finally managed to get out.
"Oh, Percy!" she'd never acted like this before but after not seeing her best friend and boyfriend for about eight months full of worry, she was a little unhinged. She let go of his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Jason said you might not have passed the Romans' tests! Did they find out who you were?"
"As soon as he woke up, Lupa told us." the girl replied. Annabeth finally let go of Percy.
"I'm Annabeth Chase." she told the girl. The girl gave a small, guarded smile.
"I know. Nice to meet you, Annabeth. Percy missed you."
Annabeth had to hug him again.
"Percy? You're alive! Hi, big brother!" Tyson bounded up behind Annabeth. She moved out of the way as the big Cyclopes grabbed Percy and spun him around. Annabeth took the moment to glance around at the Roman camp. It was neat, even, clean. It was orderly. But she'd expected that, hadn't she? Romans were organized and warlike. Their camp would reflect that.
She looked down the hill at the purple-shirted people watching her carefully with their weapons drawn. They were slowly making their way up the hill, their eyes never leaving the party, their lips never smiling. Even though one of them looked like he'd just fallen face first into a cake.
"So, you're Greek?" one short boy asked in a deep voice.
"So, you're Roman?" Annabeth replied. The speaker gave a dry smile.
"I'm Dakota, son of Minerva."
"Annabeth," she replied, trying to keep her voice as even as the Romans', "daughter of Athena."
"This is First Legion." She noticed there was no "welcome" anywhere in his tone or words.
"I see." she answered. "Are you friends of Jason?"
"Did you lock him up? I know you did!" the hulk figure of a boy demanded. He was the one who'd taken a dive into a blue cake.
"He's perfectly fine." Annabeth told him, very aware of how big he was.
"Prove it." the boy glowered at her.
"Bobby," the girl who'd been standing with Percy snapped, her voice completely monotone yet extremely dangerous.
"Fine, Gwen." Bobby growled but he sheathed his sword.
"Bianca?" Annabeth spun around at the sound of Nico's voice. She didn't know what would happen. Tyson finally stopped spinning Percy around and around. Annabeth stepped closer to steady him. Nico was frozen, his whole face shocked. "I thought you'd died. I talked to your ghost. I tried to bring you back. What happened to you? Are you a ghost?"
"No. I'm alive." Bianca said in a small voice. "Nico, you got so big."
"But...how...?" Nico choked.
"We don't really know for sure." the girl named Gwen said in a soothing voice, the first break in Roman formality Annabeth had seen so far. "We just know that one girl was taken away and replaced with Bianca. We don't really know who replaced her. We just know for sure that Bianca's here and Ester isn't."
"Who's Ester?" Jason asked, coming up behind Nico with Piper and Leo.
"Jason." Gwen's voice was sharp. Final. Familiar.
"Jason?" the Roman group Annabeth had been talking to moved forward cautiously. Jason scrunched up his face.
"Dakota. Bobby. Hazel. Daisy? Reyna." he called off their names. When their name was called, the Roman relaxed just the slightest bit. It could have been easily missed. But it was there.
"Did they chain you up?" Bobby asked.
"No." Jason answered blankly, "Why would they do that?"
"They're Greeks! They're unpredictable." Bobby stated, glaring at Leo and Piper as if they were going to go crazy and start chopping people up if they weren't watched carefully.
"Some would say Romans were unpredictable." Gwen said in her smooth voice. Bobby turned to glare at her. Gwen didn't flinch which Annabeth found a little surprising since Bobby was huge and towering and built next to her.
"Dude, don't beat up on the chick." Leo said.
"Was I talking to you, Greek?" Bobby went to towering over Leo. Leo did look intimidated.
"Bobby, cut it out." Jason ordered. "This is Leo and Piper, a couple friends I made at Camp Half-Blood." The Romans all tensed. Except for Gwen who seemed to be pretty unfazable.
"Lupa's coming." Gwen announced in her lifeless voice. "Greeks, maintain your distance. Romans, stand to! Jason, stay with the Greeks for now." Annabeth let go of Percy's hand and stepped back with Jason, Piper, Leo, Tyson, and Nico. If Lupa was a giant wolf that would eat people, Annabeth didn't want to get on her bad side and get Percy eaten or something.
Then a giant wolf was there.
Annabeth's breath caught in her throat and she was halfway to her knife when she realized how bad an idea it was. She froze and let her arm slowly return to her side. The wolf was white and huge. Her eyes were old and dark, glittering as she watched Annabeth. Slowly, the wolf-didn't Gwen call her Lupa?- began to walk down the hill to Annabeth and her group. Jason stepped forward to greet her. Without thinking, Annabeth took a half step after him, plotting a way to take down Lupa if she got nasty.
"Jason Grace. Son of Jupiter. Welcome home." Lupa said in a smooth voice that seemed to make the insides of Annabeth's bones vibrate. It was a voice that had a bit of a motherly tone to it but definitely one a person wouldn't want to cross. Lupa looked to Annabeth. Annabeth stared back at her with a face she hoped looked pretty fearless.
"Lupa," Gwen said, stepping forward. "Can we offer the Greeks shelter?" Lupa turned slightly.
"Why, Guinevere? Why should we offer these outsiders our hospitality?"
"They come with our brother and friend, Jason." Gwen continued, "They have come to help us with the impending war. They are our family."
Annabeth found herself glancing at Dakota. How could she be related to the expressionless boy? They did have the same blonde hair and eyes but how could they be family? A complete stranger could have the same shade of hair as her but it didn't make the person her family automatically. Annabeth breathed out her nose hard, she was being ridiculous again. Gwen was right. They were family. No matter how distant or close. They were family.
"Hm. Should we test them? See if they're worthy to be in our camp?"
The Romans began to chuckle darkly. Gwen, Percy, and Bianca seemed to become more tight-lipped. Annabeth watched Lupa quietly, wondering what she meant by "test". It must have not been good if everyone but three Greek-friendly demigods were laughing.
Gwen stepped a little closer and tried again.
"They're here to help us with the war." Gwen prompted. Lupa looked over Annabeth and her group. She seemed to be enjoying deciding whether to test them, kill them, or welcome them. "You owe me." Gwen said. Lupa stopped.
"How true you are, Guinevere. Romans, welcome our allies."
The Romans began to half-heartedly clap, most of them looking disappointed. Annabeth wondered what the test would have insured. Lupa looked over Annabeth's head. Her lip curled.
"You ruined my grass." she said in a cool voice. Lupa turned away and the huge white wolf walked away. Annabeth looked at Gwen. Her eyes narrowed. What could she have over Lupa? Gwen caught her gaze and stared her placidly down.
For a moment, the Romans stared at them openly before they shifted around and turned around to follow Lupa. The group Jason had identified remained along with another girl, watching him worriedly.
"They don't know what to do with you." Percy said, looking at Jason then meeting everyone else's gaze, holding Annabeth's a little longer.
"You sound like an expert." Nico said in a dark voice.
"No expert, but I'm getting the hang of Roman life." Percy shrugged. Then, without really thinking, he put his arm around Gwen's shoulders. It was a casual move that said he'd done it before. It was natural. Annabeth felt her heart begin to shatter. He hadn't remembered her and now he was going out with another girl. A Roman girl. But, he'd remembered her. He'd hugged her. Called her by her name. Looked into her eyes. Yet he had his arm around Gwen.
Her face must have had a betrayed look on it because Percy looked at her and jerked his arm off Gwen. Gwen glanced at him, raising an eyebrow, then glanced back at Annabeth. Annabeth was shooting daggers out of her eyes. She was so mad. Here she'd been, all alone at Camp Half-Blood, worried sick about him, and here he was, completely fine, hugging on some other girl.
"Maybe I should really introduce Gwen," Percy said sheepishly. Annabeth glared at him.
"Yes, introduce us to your new girlfriend." She blinked back angry tears. She wouldn't show how upset she was, especially to the moodless Romans.
"This is Guinevere Jackson, my twin sister."
Annabeth felt her mouth fall open.
Chapter II: GUINEVERE: Mixed Messages
Annabeth's face went slack with shock.
Gwen had watched her mind whirl when Percy had put his arm around her. She had watched Annabeth's mind go from shock to betrayal to anger.
"Your sister?" She had managed to get out.
"SISTER!" The Cyclopes yelled, leaping forward to crush both Percy and Gwen in his arms. She was pretty sure when she got out of his grasp, she was going to have a few cracked ribs.
"Tyson-can't breathe-Ty-" Percy choked. Tyson let them both go. His calf-brown eye twinkled at her. Gwen couldn't help it. She let her mask slip away for a second as she smiled and laughed. Gwen adjusted her face in a moment, cutting her laugh short. Annabeth's gray eyes narrowed slightly but Gwen made sure her face had no signs of emotion.
She might have actually been Greek and the new group might have been friendly, but she still didn't know them. She couldn't trust them, not yet. She had been drilled too many times to open up so quickly. In truth, Gwen had to admit Tyson had already won her heart. Just like Percy had when he'd first been dumped into the hospital tent. There had been something about him that Gwen just couldn't help but love. She had taken it upon herself to nurse him throughout his coma (which they'd found out later was induced by Juno and Cupid). And no one had disagreed. Gwen had felt like she had a friend even though he was unconscious.
And when he woke up, it was like something in her had snapped. She had just puked up emotions like they were going out of style. But she was better. It only took a day or two to get a grip on her pent up emotions. She'd had a brother for a couple months now. It was something that might one day be natural, normal, consistent.
With Percy, life had gotten easier. With Bianca, she had a real friend, someone who was in worse shape with family than her. Jason's friends, those people she'd tried to be friends with for years, began to gravitate towards Percy. Percy was Jason's replacement. He was the placeholder that would nurse their wounds and heartaches. But, by doing so, they'd opened up a little and allowed themselves to look at Gwen. To see her. To actually see she wasn't their best friend's enemy. That she wasn't just the Greek Girl. Life had become bearable, enjoyable, fun. Fun at a Roman camp. Fun was a word only children of Mars used to describe First Legion and it's hard training and fighting.
But here were the Greeks. His people. Her should-be people. Here they were with Jason, First Legion's lost leader. Here they were to give Jason back and take Percy. Here they were to take her brother and best friend and disappear. Here they were to ride off into the sunset and leave her alone.
Would Jason's friends still talk to her? Probably not. Things would go back to normal. She would be the Greek Girl. The demigod who belonged in both camps and neither at the same time. Bianca would still talk to her, but she would go back to everyone avoiding her. Would Reyna still be her friend? Was their friendship hanging loosely on Percy and Gwen's air of peace and family? Daisy would loose her confidence, for sure.
Percy made the Romans open up. It was like there was just enough Greek to clue the Romans in to new ideas but not enough to wig them out. Balance.
Gwen looked at the Greeks and their Roman leader. She could feel Percy by her side: the Romans' Greek leader. There was a tension between everyone: except Tyson who was ready to give Percy and Gwen another hug as soon as they stopped holding their ribs. No one was sure what to do. Gwen didn't know if she wanted to do anything. Did she want to promote them? Invite them into the Roman camp so they could take her brother? But they were family. They were here to help. They had brought Jason. They were eager to see Percy. They were eager to learn. She had to be bigger and not let feelings get in the way. Because, if the Romans had taught her anything, it was that listening to strong emotions messed things up. Gwen might disagree to how much emotion could be shown but she agreed that greedy thoughts would lead to destruction.
She was seventeen.
She was going to do things right.
"Welcome," Gwen said, trying to keep her voice as smooth as possible. Annabeth's eyes narrowed again at her. Gwen knew she was trying to detect emotion in her voice. She knew the daughter of Athena was getting nowhere. "This is First Legion. Why don't we settle you in and give you a tour tomorrow. If you're helping with the war, you'll need to know where things are around here." Gwen offered them a tight-lipped beginning of a smile.
"That would be great, thanks." one boy said, patting the bronze boat fondly. "We could sleep with Festus, he wouldn't mind-" as if the bronze dragon head locked on the front of the boat was listening, it tilted it's head slightly and leaked a good amount of black oil all over the boy. Gwen smiled a little wider at the dragon head. It's red eyes blinked at her.
"Maybe we should do introductions before that." Nico, Bianca's brother, Gwen had figured out, finally tore his eyes away from Bianca to look at Gwen. She felt herself stiffen. Not because she was afraid. Though his piercing black eyes could strike fear into the hearts of some people. But the eyes of Pluto and Hades's children never scared her.
What made her stiffen was how his black eyes seemed to look right through her. Bianca's did that also but not to the extent of Nico's. It was like he was looking at her soul. Reading past her Roman mask and seeing her. Almost like it felt when she and Percy used telepathy to communicate. But different. Gwen could let Percy see what she wanted him to see and hear. It was always in her control. Nico saw everything.
Nico's eyes took in her tense posture and he looked away. He had misread her body language.
"I'm Nico di Angelo." he told her. He was tall, just a little taller than Gwen but just a little shorter than Percy. His hair was long and black. His skin was olive complected. He had on a black shirt with orange letters that read "Camp Half-Blood" and a black skull hoodie. The grass where he was standing was beginning to slowly wilt.
"Annabeth told you her name." he continued on in his deep voice. Annabeth nodded her head. The perfect California girl with tanned skin and blonde hair curled like a princess was corrupted by her strong, unwavering steel gray eyes. A New York Yankees cap peeked out of her back jeans pocket.
"I'm Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite." The other girl stepped forward. She was beautiful. Her brown hair was short and choppy with thin braids through it. Her eyes danced from brown to green to blue. She adjusted her ski jacket. Her orange shirt peeked out from under it.
Gwen's eyes flashed to the distance between Piper and Jason. She didn't know why it had caught her attention. Maybe it was Piper stood just a little close. Maybe it was the way she stood next to Jason. Maybe it was something Gwen just felt. Whatever it was, Gwen had a feeling Jason and Piper had a thing. As in "I like you". Her eyes flicked to Reyna. The long haired daughter of Apollo was watching the space between them closely also. Gwen decided she'd keep an eye on the daughter of Aphrodite in case Reyna wanted to take a poke at her.
Jason's sky blue eyes caught Gwen's. She glared at him. He seemed clueless for a moment before his eyes flicked to Reyna and returned to Gwen. He looked guilty. His shortly cut gold hair shone in the fading light. The little crescent scar above his upper lip twisted as his mouth frowned. The action surprised Gwen. She'd thought he'd worn his Roman mask long enough that it was just a natural reflex to wear it. Gwen wondered if all the time she'd hidden behind her own mask but wished to show something was just a mental thing. Was it possible that since Jason had lost his memory-and didn't seem to have it back-he'd forgotten about the fierce determination of Romans and emotions?
"I'm Leo Valdez, the hot one." the boy covered in Festus's ear oil stepped forward, grinning. He was wiping his face and hands off with an extra shirt. Gwen had gotten a good look at him before he'd had an oily shower. He was average height and thin with extra long fingers that were twirling or linking or doing something constantly. He had a grin that made Gwen think of Lynn: ornery, up to no good. He had curly black hair and tanned skin. "Son of Hephaestus at your service." he gave a comical bow.
"Yes, you do get into your work." Gwen commented. Leo didn't seem to notice. He was making goo-goo eyes at her. "Our turn, I suppose. That's Bobby Martin, son of Mars." Bobby, in his hulk-like glory, flexed his muscles and shifted so that his long braided rat tail swung around hit Dakota in the face. Romans had no problem showing off. Gwen suppressed rolling her eyes. "Dakota Wolter, son of Minerva." Dakota tapped the side of his head, watching Annabeth, challenging her. "Daisy Dukes, daughter of Venus." Daisy beamed a smile Piper's way, adjusting her large round glasses. Piper returned it a little hesitantly. "Hazel Gustine, daughter of Ceres." Hazel started at the Greeks. After a moment, she upturned the corners of her lips like "There" but still managed to grimace. Know the term "Happy as a sunflower"? Doesn't apply to Hazel. "Lynn Roberts, daughter of Mercury." Lynn gave a cocky smile only children of Mercury could manage to break through the Roman mask without really giving anything away. Usually people checked their pockets for firecrackers and the like though. "Reyna Timbers, daughter of Apollo." Reyna plucked her bow string.
Its twang hung in the air.
"Let's get you to your cabins." Gwen muttered, turning around.
"You're going to let them sleep with us?" Dakota's nose scrunched up before he could control it.
"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?" Gwen answered smoothly, not feeling smooth at all. She hated going head to head with Minerva's children. But, being a daughter of Neptune (actually Poseidon), Minerva's kids picked fights with her. Mentally. They knew Gwen would whip them physically.
"Who doesn't?" Reyna's lip curled as she glared at Piper.
"Just look at them." Hazel put in, with a very obvious nod Leo's way. Leo began to scrub his face harder. The oil just rubbed into his skin deeper.
"Okay," Gwen turned to face the Romans. She knew she would come to a head with every single camper-besides Bianca and Daisy and Percy-so she might as well start now. Nip it in the bud. The Romans leaned away slightly, wondering what Gwen would do. "Anyone who has a problem with it can fight me. If you win, they can sleep with their dragon boat. If I win, I cut something valuable off the loser." the Romans took a step away from her, Dakota and Bobby took the biggest. They knew she wasn't bluffing even though she was half-bluffing. She was considering bluffing. Percy chuckled behind her.
"Is she that good?" Annabeth asked, looking Gwen up and down, evaluating, trying to find a flaw that she could use to her advantage.
"She's the best fighter here." Jason said suddenly. His face looked faraway as if he was somewhere else. He was trying to remember. Gwen wondered what Juno had done to Jason to make him have such a hard time remembering. "Are you my friend?" he looked at her, squinting.
"No." Gwen answered sharply. "Let's go, Greeks, you've missed dinner."
She turned on her heel sharply.
A little piece in her heart was aching. The little piece that belonged to Jason. As a friend. She didn't like him romantically. But her heart still burned.
Chapter III: PIPER: Is It Fair?
The only nice person at First Legion was Daisy and maybe Gwen. Piper wasn't really sure though. Percy didn't count because he'd hardly said a word and he was Greek. Gwen had possibilities but if she was dangerous enough to shut six Romans up all at once...and her voice had been so hard, so cruel when she'd told Jason they weren't friends. Piper wondered if she was an old girlfriend. But her voice had hinted something deeper than an old heartbreak.
Piper didn't understand how the Romans managed to stay so cool and controlled. She could hear them laughing at her. She knew they were behind their Roman masks. But hadn't Jason said something about how the Roman camp would be different from Camp Half-Blood? Hadn't he said that Romans value war above all else and Greeks loved their family? She could believe it.
When Gwen had walked them down the hill, Piper had taken in the camp all at once. She had followed silently, trying to absorb everything and process it. It felt like she was back on her first day at Camp Half-Blood. She remembered her surprise when Annabeth was trying to find her a weapon and had looked through a garden shed. Now the knife of Helen of Troy was strapped to her leg. It was a regular friend now.
"You can sleep under me, Piper. Over here!" Daisy whispered. Piper shook her head, getting out of her thoughts. It was dark in the Venus cabin. She picked her way through, conscious of where the foggy outline of the beds were. She half expected a pair of stilettos to be in her way but the Romans were neat and organized. Every cabin looked the same. They had a few different colors and the Mars cabin had some neat barbed wire and the Venus smelled like dozens of different perfumes. Nothing was out of place in the whole camp though. Not even a blade of grass dared be a millimeter longer than the others.
"Thanks." Piper said when she got to where Daisy was. Daisy smiled at her.
"No problem." Daisy whispered back, scurrying up the ladder to her bed.
"If you don't mind me saying," Piper started, she paused, waiting for Daisy to object or agree. Silence greeted Piper. She took it as a "go ahead" so she continued, "You don't really seem like the other Romans."
Piper folded back the crisp pink sheets and got into bed. She was borrowing a pair of pajamas from Daisy since Leo had found her pajamas and used them as an oil rag. They weren't modest in the leg area.
"I don't mind." Daisy said, hanging her head over the edge of her bed. "It's simple, really. I don't go to First Legion much. My parents are both demigods but my scent isn't as strong as theirs. The monsters don't come after me as much. I don't need as much training. I don't come here as much. I don't have the same Roman mask you find everywhere."
"Your parents are both demigods?" Piper asked.
"Yeah, son of Venus and daughter of Minerva."
"How'd that happen?" Piper laughed quietly, having trouble thinking of an airhead and a brainiac together.
"Party."
"How come you're in the Venus cabin? Did you get a choice?" Piper wondered which cabin she'd want to be in if she was given a chance. She wasn't sure about all the maps she'd seen hanging in the Athena cabin but it had to be better than suffocation by lavender perfume.
"Daughters go to the fathers' cabin, sons go to the mothers'." Daisy answered, her voice beginning to slip into the normal Roman monotone.
"Why's that?" Piper pulled the sheets up to her nose, muffling her voice.
"Daughters are usually like their fathers and sons are usually like their mothers." Daisy pulled her head back into her bunk so Piper couldn't see it anymore. Piper frowned up at the bottom of Daisy's bunk.
"But what about sons who are like their fathers or girls like their mothers? What do they do?"
"Usually demigod parents have more in common, so it's easier for the child. But other times they just have to deal with it." Daisy's cheerful voice was gone. Replaced with the stiff Roman tone. It gave Piper chill bumps.
"Are your parents together?" Piper found herself asking.
"No. They could hardly stand each other to begin with." Daisy gave a quiet sigh.
"Do you like being in the Venus cabin?" Piper tried to steer in a little bit of a different direction.
"No." Daisy answered flatly.
"Would you want to be in the Athena cabin?"
"Minerva, and I don't know. I'm an outcast either way." Daisy's head came back over the edge. Her blonde bob looked kind of funny upside down. Piper watched her face work to take on a more cheerful look, "You don't like being a child of Venus, do you?"
"What do you mean?" Piper didn't want to look at her now.
"You try your best to look like you don't care. You have the style you like, but it's still like you're running away. You might like it, but you started wearing it because you didn't want to be pretty. Right?"
"I'm better now." Piper looked back at Daisy. Her glasses were dangling off one ear. "I was pretty horrified when I was claimed. I guess I'm okay with it. I would have liked something a little less...well..."
"Airhead?" Daisy suggested.
"Yeah. My cabin is a pretty good bunch. They got better after we dumped Drew out of the 'in charge' position."
Daisy didn't ask who Drew was. She'd fallen asleep, hanging upside down. Her glasses finally slipped off her ear and clattered to the floor. Piper pulled her sheets off and picked them up. She paused, letting the faint light from the pink curtained window bounce off the lenses. She turned them over a couple times in her hand.
Was she still running away from her heritage? Did it really show?
Piper had thought she'd embraced the fact she was a daughter of Aphrodite a little more since she'd spent about eight months with her brothers and sisters. She'd tried to teach some of them how to fight a little. She wasn't very good herself and most of them dropped the sword or bow with the tell-tale Barbie cry of "my nail!" A couple of her siblings had tried though and had discovered a little bit of hidden talent they didn't know they had.
But was she still running away?
Piper sighed and folded up Daisy's glasses.
When people heard "Aphrodite" or "Venus" they just thought airhead, Barbie doll, Little Miss Perfect. Piper had to change that image. Sure, the biggest thing in her cabin was what top you wore with what shoes but there had to be more to her mother than that. She was a Roman goddess too, right? Romans were more warlike, right? Her mother had to have fought a little, right? So, where was that fight in the Greek children? Why was it so few?
Piper leaned over and set Daisy's glasses on the nightstand.
She would change people's image of her family.
She would get her siblings to understand that their biggest goal in life wasn't manicures or make-up.
She would get them to think deeper if she had to hold her knife to their throat and drag them through muddy worms.
She would do it.
Chapter IV: ANNABETH: Family Spats
Romans were strict.
Romans were tough.
Romans were stupid.
That was the conclusion Annabeth had come to at the end of the first day of Roman training.
Annabeth opened her eyes.
It took her less than a second to figure out she wasn't in her bed. Her mind began to whirl at a thousand miles per second before the events of the previous day came back to her. She wondered how many times she would wake up like that. She wondered how long she would stay at First Legion.
She rubbed her eyes and sat up, promptly hitting her head on the bunk above her.
"Ouch." she grumbled, irritated. One of her Roman siblings muttered "Shut up, Greek." Annabeth ignored them and looked around the room. She glared at it. Sure, it was nice to have things organized (it was really good when you had a project) but this was just ridiculous.
The whole cabin was white and gray. It felt sterile. Unlived in. Then all the maps were hung in polished picture frames (gray, one inch all the way around) and situated according to size and date. Little ones on top. Big ones on bottom. Medium ones in the middle.
No notes, anywhere. Filing cabinets covered one whole wall where the bunks weren't. They were labeled by map and filed by name. Colored pencils, pencils, pens, notebook paper, printer paper, sticky notes, paper clips, staplers, erasers, and everything else in the entire world were in shelves, distinctly labeled. Nothing was allowed on the table. It was disgusting.
How could a person brainstorm? This was the worst atmosphere she'd ever gotten into. It didn't help every time she took a breath someone sniffed or glared at her like she was ruining the air. The worst part was, they were her siblings. Her half brothers and sisters. That's sibling love for you.
Annabeth stood up to glare easier at the white walls that would have looked at home in a crazy asylum. It felt like she was in a loony bin though. All that was missing was the plush edges and the "don't run with scissors" sign on the wall reserved for pre-schoolers and Kindergardeners.
Annabeth yawned and scratched her head.
"Do you mind?" someone hissed. Annabeth turned around. Dakota was getting out of bed, watching her coolly.
"And what do you mean?" Annabeth answered, putting her hands on her hips. She wasn't going to try to match Dakota's expert mask. She knew it was futile. She did know how to stay rather cool-headed and glare, though.
"You're spreading your dead skin cells into the air." Dakota explained. Annabeth glared down her nose at him. Dakota was a under five feet but his voice was really deep. She supposed it was better than the other way around.
"You're just ridiculous." Annabeth snapped, "You're like a little boy and cooties. You're afraid of Greek germs." She began to scratch her hair with a vengeance. She pulled out a couple strands and threw them in Dakota's face. "Greek germs. Yes, you'll die won't you!"
The rest of the Minerva cabin was up, watching their fight from their bunk beds. The cabin was deathly silent for a few minutes. They dragged on.
"Greeks are impulsive." Dakota finally said.
"Well, do you know what Romans are?" Annabeth leaned over Dakota. He didn't move back or flinch. Her golden hair was still clinging to his nose. Annabeth caught the flash of emotion in his eyes before he managed to hide it. She wondered what it was. She hadn't seen it long enough to decipher it.
"What are Romans?" Dakota asked coolly, "Remember though, dear sister," he answered in a slightly mocking tone, "you're surrounded by a whole cabin of Romans so you better choose your words wisely."
"Romans are shells of people. Heartless, mindless shells."
"Like I said, Greeks are impulsive." Dakota gave her a tight lipped smile. "It's sad to know our mother's Greek kids are as stupid and impulsive as every other Greek." Annabeth felt her jaw tighten.
"I'd rather be an impulsive Greek than a Roman shell. Because it shows that I have feelings and independent thoughts." Annabeth mirrored his smile, "Unlike my Roman siblings who can't see past 'that's the wrong shade of red on the map'. You're pathetic." she brushed past Dakota. She grabbed her knife out of her borrowed bunk bed and walked out of Minerva's cabin.
Chapter V: GUINEVERE: Annabeth Gets Schooled
Gwen didn't want the Greeks to take her brother. She had been up all night, sitting in the grass next to the smoldering fire pit, thinking. She was in a constant struggle between what was right and what she felt and wanted. Emotions were trouble. She sighed when the red and pink lights of the sunrise began to dance across the grass.
Gwen stretched and unfolded her legs from under her. She opened her eyes and watched Annabeth stomp out of Minerva's cabin, holding a knife rather threateningly. Annabeth's eyes caught Gwen's and she stomped over to where Gwen was, brushing off her legs and shorts.
"What's wrong with this place?" Annabeth demanded. Gwen glanced down at the knife she was squeezing like a worry ball or something. Annabeth followed her gaze. "Sorry," she muttered, sitting down in the perfect, straight edge grass. Gwen sat back down.
"What do you mean?" she already knew what Annabeth meant. She just wanted to hear her say it. She wanted to keep up the illusion, for just a little longer, that she was Roman.
Instead of answering right away, Annabeth stared at the crisp green grass. She ran her fingers over the top of the blades. She sighed and plucked one.
"This." she held up the blade. It was one and a half inches long. That's how every blade was in the whole camp. Once Gwen had gotten bored enough to take a ruler and start measuring different patches. "Everything is perfect. Everything is organized. There's no life here."
"So organization is bad, Minerva-I mean, Athena-girl?" Gwen asked quietly, running both her hands over the sharp blades.
"Organization is good. But that's all that matters here. The only life here is in the training. And even then it's really bad to show too much fire. You Romans are empty. You can't show emotion. You have no life."
"We hide our feelings. Just because we do that doesn't mean we can't feel things. Some people believe that if a person hides behind a mask or a shell, they're actually afraid. They're afraid to take the chance. They're afraid to see. They're afraid to open up and trust. Don't Romans qualify for that explanation?"
"You train for it." Annabeth uprooted a handful of grass.
"Supposedly," Gwen plucked a blade, "we have our little 'shell' or 'mask' so that our enemies don't know that we're afraid. That we're angry. That they're getting to us. It's supposed to make us intimidating. But, we're still people. We still have the same thoughts and feelings. We have to get them out somehow. Or we might explode." she ripped the blade in half and let it fall through the air.
"Romans have to be creative with how they get their feelings out. Some just puke them out when it gets to be too much. Most expel it through fighting. Training is our life, Annabeth. We can only show so much through it, though. We're careful and guarded even while trying to get the pressure off our Feel-o-Meters."
She stood up and offered Annabeth her hands.
"So, what's it going to be? Are you going to see through our masks and shells? Are you going to give us a chance?"
Annabeth took Gwen's hands and stood up, stooping to pick up her knife. She fingered the edge lightly as her mind whirled with Gwen's words. The light from the rising sun caught the gray in her eyes and danced with rainbow colors and gray. She looked up to Gwen's green eyes.
"How long have you been here, Gwen?"
"Seventeen years yesterday." Gwen answered.
"That's a really long time."
"You're right." Gwen told her, her voice slipping back into Roman formality. Annabeth was tip-toeing on dangerous, deep territory that Gwen wasn't ready to share yet. "Well, go get dressed, breakfast will be announced any minute. If you're late, you're screwed. Training is right after breakfast. Bring your knife."
Gwen turned away.