-1Heartbreak Warfare
Chapter 1: Two Can Keep A Secret…If One Is Dead
(AN: First, but not last, Percy Jackson fic. I'm pretty excited about this one. This story is tied in with PrettyLittleRush's "Ghost of You". They will catch up with each other in either the 2nd or 3rd chapter. Also, when depicting the cabins, I go off the details given in the book, but anything else is from my imagination. I think that's it. Enjoy!)
Songs I listened to while writing this chapter:
"Boyfriend" by Big Time Rush
And
"Keep Up" by HyperCrush
(Neither of those songs have anything to do with the plot.)
"Ugh, he's intolerable!"
"She's unbearable!"
Two voices could be heard from two separate locations at Camp Half-Blood. The first, by the sea, a little ways away from Aphrodite's Cabin, from Spencer Knight.
She currently stood on top of a large rock, throwing smaller ones into the water without a care of who or what could possibly be underneath that water.
"What'd he do now?" One of Spencer's many half-sister's, Brandi, said, sitting on the ground.
Spencer glanced at Brandi, who was hitting a set of taped lime green drum sticks against the ground to some beat that was running through her head, before looking back at the water angrily. She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned.
"What didn't he do?" she spat.
Meanwhile, Percy Jackson was walking aimlessly, muttering under his breath, until Annabeth Chase caught up with him.
"Who's intolerable?" she asked, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.
Percy jumped slightly, wincing, "Nobody."
"You just said 'She's intolerable', and by the look on your face, you're angry." She said as she got directly beside him.
"Nothing," he repeated, "I said it was nothing."
"Okay…" Annabeth trailed off.
Spencer twisted a piece of her straight blonde hair around her finger and popped her bubblegum agitatedly.
"So, we'll be alone past curfew, you know, and he'll be all sweet . He tells me that he cares about me and all that, but to my face, psh, it's a different story." she said.
"I say you move on, like, now." Brandi said, sitting her drum sticks aside.
Spencer didn't say a word. She stood up on the rock and put her hands on her hips, adjusting her pink hand decorated Cabin Aphrodite t-shirt. She stared down at her brown Sperry Topsiders and then looked back up at the sky.
"I don't know what to do." she breathed.
"Why are you two keeping it a secret anyway?" Brandi asked.
"Ugh, I don't know. He has this idea that, since my mother told him that she wasn't going to give him an easy love life, then, if he wasn't public with his love related affairs, he won't have any problems." Spencer huffed.
"Yet, it's making things worse now."
"True facts."
"What's been bothering you so much lately?" Annabeth asked as she and Percy approached Poseidon's cabin.
Percy kept walking, ignoring Annabeth's constant pokes and prods to get him to confess. He walked up onto the deck of the Poseidon cabin and stared off at the lake.
His eyes wandered until they dropped onto and unmistakable head of golden blonde hair. He smiled slightly at the sight of Spencer. Annabeth's voice tore him out of his slight daze though, the smile fading to a frown as he turned around.
"Nothing, I told you. It's nothing." he said as he quickly stripped down into just his shorts, throwing his shirt to the deck and kicking his shoes off.
"You don't go in the water unless you have something serious to think about." she placed her hands on her hips.
"I'll be back." Percy said, never turning around to face Annabeth as he jumped into the sea water, letting himself sink to the bottom.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the lake, Spencer and Brandi were beginning to walk back towards the main part of camp.
"I guess you're right." Spencer put her hands down into the pockets of her denim cut offs and kicked at the ground, "I do need to talk to him. He'll never change or at least make an attempt to not be…sea scum…if I don't bring it up."
She walked away from Brandi and approached the Poseidon cabin. Annabeth was walking out as she was walking up. The two locked eyes, tension building.
Spencer and Annabeth had never exactly seen things eye to eye. The animosity was mainly between their two cabins.
Annabeth had no respect for Spencer, even though she knew deep down that she was not only the most gifted daughter of Aphrodite at this camp, but she was very agile and graceful even when wielding a sword during Capture the Flag.
Spencer on the other hand, didn't like Annabeth for her attitude. Her sarcasm and the obnoxious way she acted like she was smarter than everyone else highly bothered Spencer.
Not to mention the most common factor that both girls shared: Percy Jackson.
Annabeth had no clue what was going on between Percy and Spencer. For once, something left her completely clueless. However, she had seen them talking, and knew exactly how gifted Spencer was with love magic. The whole combination didn't please Annabeth one bit.
Spencer could see the obvious way that Annabeth liked Percy. Granted, she had the love magic in this equation, but she didn't want to keep Percy around like that. He was her boyfriend, not her hostage.
"Annabeth' Spencer said with a slightly disgusted tone.
"Knight" Annabeth replied, tightening her curly blonde ponytail.
Annabeth narrowed her eyes, to which Spencer returned the favor before walking off.
"I can't stand her." Spencer muttered under her breath before walking onto the wooden platform of the cabin.
She began to walk on the deck until she stepped on the blue button up Percy had on earlier on top of his orange camp t-shirt.
"What the Hades?" she said, picking up the shirt.
She stared at the blue fabric in her hands until she looked forward and saw Percy's shoes discarded on the wooden floor.
She followed the trail until she reached a wet patch on the deck. She walked towards the deck's edge and looked down, knowing exactly where he was.
She peered over into the water staring hard until she hazily made out Percy's form under the water.
"What is he-"
Splash!
Spencer hit the water with a scream, having lost her footing on the deck. She began to sink, fighting to swim to the top until she felt someone grab her around the waist, scaring her more so than before.
She squirmed, trying to pull away until she felt herself getting pulled back out of the water. She hit the wooden deck with a gasp.
"What were you thinking, Spencer?" Percy exclaimed, breathing heavily as she sat up.
Spencer coughed a few times before sitting up, pushing wet strands of hair out of her eyes.
"No, I'm fine Percy, thanks for asking, jerk!" she replied, shaking her head.
"What were you trying to do? I've told you to be careful around there." he said before his voice lowered to a mutter, "Aphrodites"
"What?" she exclaimed out of shock.
"Look, I'm sorry." he said, putting his hands up in defense, "Just, let's just forget about this."
"What is with you?" she said, "You've been acting so strange lately. Seriously Percy, you better tell me what's wrong now!"
"It's nothing. I just don't want to make things…"
"Complicated, I know, but look what that's doing! Guess what, Percy? Things have gotten complicated." She replied, standing up, putting her hands on her hips.
"No, they haven't." he said, also standing up, "You're just trying to make them look that way. When the lights go out, we're okay. That's the point of keeping a secret. Everything's fine in the end."
"Not this time!" she spat.
"Listen, Spence, hear me out." he said, "I like you a lot, you know that."
"Obviously not. Why are you so ashamed of me anyway? What, am I not man enough for you? Well, you know what, I can't control which Greek goddess I was born to." she said.
"I'm not ashamed of you…" he trailed off, putting a hand to his forehead.
"Well, what is it? Is it Annabeth Chase?" she said.
"No, of course not." he replied, looking shocked.
"Wipe that look off your face, Percy. If I hung around a guy like you hang around her, you'd think the same thing."
"Would not."
"Oh, don't stand here and lie to me!" Spencer said.
"I'm not lying!" he replied, "We're just friends."
"Yeah, and that's what you tell everyone when they ask about me." she replied smartly, "Yet, apparently, when the lights go out, we're okay. Is that what it is with you and Annabeth? Is everything okay when I'm not looking?" she said.
"Damn it, Spencer. Calm down." he said.
"Don't tell me to calm down!" she shouted.
"Why in the Hades are we even fighting?"
"Because you're a jerk!"
"Why?"
"You won't claim me, because you think Aphrodite's going to make your love life complicated because of other people. Guess what? You didn't accomplish a thing! Percy, if you've forgotten, Aphrodite's not only my mother, she's a goddess. She knows exactly what you're doing! You're either ashamed or messing with Annabeth!" she said.
"Well, you know what, Spencer?" he breathed, "I can't do this anymore. This…drama… is ridiculous. You act like we're engaged or something like that. It's done, we're over."
Spencer's body language changed at an instance, hearing those words drop from Percy's lips.
Her stiff stance and hard facial expression softened, her jaw falling slightly.
"So you're just going to let it go like that?" she said, her voice growing quiet.
"Yeah, because I'm going to just let you be right. I don't care." he shrugged, "If I don't have a girlfriend, then how is your mom going to make my love life complicated? Maybe I have outsmarted a Greek goddess after all."
"Percy…" she said softly.
"Just, just leave. We're done. I'm done. I don't care about this…thing…anymore." he said, "Go back to your cabin, Spencer."
"Fine" she spat.
She turned to walk away before whirling around on her heel to face him once again. She reached up behind her hair and took off her necklace that held her four camp beads. In the center of the four beads was a pink seashell Percy had strung onto the necklace for her.
She slid two of the beads off, pulled the seashell off, put the other bead back and then tossed the seashell to the ground.
Spencer glared at Percy before putting her necklace back on. She turned back on her heal and glared as she walked away.
When she got back to Aphrodite's cabin, some of her siblings asked her why she was angry. Others asked where the shell she supposedly found on the beach was and why it was missing from her necklace.
She walked over to her bed and dug underneath it for a thin pink tub she used to keep camp related stuff in. She slide it out and began to dig around until she found a pretty pink flyer.
She stared at the bright words and took a deep breath. She quickly put it away, looking around to make sure no one had seen it.
That flyer was definitely not something welcome on Aphrodite grounds, but Spencer's position as a cabin leader made that sin a little more frowned upon.
She remembered the goddess who gave her the flyer. Her words replayed in her mind loudly, as if she were standing right in front of her.
"If you are ever to change your mind, we are only a message away."
Spencer let the words replay over and over again in her mind before grabbing a drachma out of her pocket and a Switchfoot CD out of her blue "Back Home" trunk and heading out the door.
She walked until she knew she was alone and then sat on the ground. She moved a medium sized rock to where it was right in front of her.
"Please let this work." she said, fiddling with the drachma in her hand.
She then took the Hello Hurricane CD out of its case and let the sun catch it at the right angle to cast a rainbow prism on the rock.
"Yes!" she whispered triumphantly before tossing her drachma at the rock, the rainbow now casting onto the coin.
"Oh, Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering." she said.
She waited a few seconds, clearing her head before saying the receiver's name.
"Thalia Grace"