The typical overused Luke/OC but with a different story of course...anyways...please read!

Enjoy!

Chapter 2: The Rising Trouble


Every camper was in their usual jovial mood. Chattering with their cabin mates about different things. While, some were too preoccupied with their breakfast, stuffing foods into their mouths.

However, for Laveila's case it wasn't like that at all. It was the total opposite to be exact. It was understandable why she was grumpy; of course, she doesn't have anyone to talk to. Since her sister, Thalia Grace, became a lieutenant of Artemis she was always away and she rarely went to camp as she could not stand "obnoxious boys" around her.

She couldn't even transfer tables since it was against the rules and the campers were still frightened at her because of that crazy stunt she did last night. A stunt that could've killed Xandri. But for her, it wasn't that deadly at all. She had a temper, that was it and she had a right to throw a tantrum sometimes, she was a human –erm, half-human- after all.

All she did was glare at the Apollo table, stabbing her poor food at the same time; as if that was Xandri herself. Her prank last night was not funny at all and she had gone too far. She will have her revenge. This time, it will last until the rest of the summer. Giving her the silent treatment would not work, she already did that, and it was still useless. So, last night, she devised a simple but effective plan.

For Xandri's case, she was frightened. Downright frightened. Because, Laveila was already shooting daggers towards her. She could feel her stare (if that made any sense) as if there were real electric currents running through her glare like those cartoons when two people glower at each other.

Not only that, last night, she had a very frightening nightmare and her mood was already dark. Now that she woke up for another day, her mood did not improve at all. Not even a tiny bit.

She couldn't even laugh at her sibling's joke about Shakespeare or something like that. She was too preoccupied by Laveila's glare and her surroundings. She kept on looking around her, as if someone might pounce on her any minute by now. She kept on fidgeting with her food.

Apples were her favourite, and one look at it, she'd inhale it quickly like oxygen. But this time, she barely even touched her food. This was a bad sign.

She could still feel the daggers that the other girl was shooting at her. Xandri, even though she was cowering at her table, was quite impressed at Laveila's glare because not only was it a "two thumbs-up" kind of glare, she could hold it for a long time without even blinking (okay, so maybe it was an exaggeration but, hey, she barely saw her blink).

She was hoping that breakfast would be over because; her legs were already itching to sprint away from the enraged daughter of Zeus. She valued her life and dying young wasn't her birthday wish.

She prayed and waited until everyone was done.

After a few minutes, everyone was starting to get up. This was her chance! And with that, she used all the energy that she had (if she ever had, since she did not even eat her breakfast) to run away. Away from Laveila's powerful wrath.

Laveila knew that Xandri was scared of her, which highly amused her even though she was still pissed at the aforementioned girl. She should be, after what she had done. Although, she didn't hear it, Luke's reaction was enough to know that what she did was unforgivable. They were not ordinary humans, well half-humans technically but that wasn't the point, even if she vents her anger out, Xandri wouldn't be killed anyway. That girl had healing powers after all.

She was not in the mood for sword (for her, it was twin swords) fighting. Even though her reaction was kind of shallow, she couldn't help but snap because of Aphrodite and Xandri, of course. Aphrodite, because of her stupid love powers, she was hit by Eros' arrow and now cannot help but have a strange longing to tell Luke of what she felt. And for Xandri, because she had to tell it to Luke first before her, now what would she seem to him? A shallow fangirl?

She shook her thoughts off and gritted her teeth for being such a lovesick puppy. She wasn't like that! She was tough and she didn't need a love life to feel complete. Of course, she just kept on telling herself that. To stop herself from being a slave of Aphrodite's works. Dammit, that goddess. Why her? Why not her other daughters and sons? She groaned and tried to clear her mind.

She looked at her necklace, which was shaped like curved blades that looked like a yin-yang symbol only it was blue, and couldn't help but play with it.

That was her dad's birthday gift for her. She just tried to ask for one, just one big sword for her weapon, since she got inspired after she heard a game that was named God of War. The anti-hero, Kratos, had two red swords that Athena gave to him. The way it was described was so cool that she didn't sleep after she asked for it.

The next day, her birthday, she got two instead of one. It delighted her so much. She immediately contacted her mother using an Iris-message and showed-off her brand-new gifts. Although her mother looked nervous for her, since it meant that she might get thrown into a dangerous quest, Laveila did not mind and was even excited to start training with her own sword. She was so inspired that she trained hard to build some muscles since she couldn't carry both swords.

However, life can be unfair sometimes.

Since, Xandri got three weapons. And sometimes, Laveila couldn't help but get envious at her luck. All of it were awesome too but almost all of it were long-range weapons. And for Laveila, it was kind of cowardly.

Her weapons were a golden bow and arrows (gift from her dad), a celestial bronze spear (a gift from her mom, who was also a demigod) and a whip that was made of celestial bronze chains (a gift from her crauber smart grandmother, Athena).

Even though Laveila only had twin giant swords, Laveila was the better fighter (and Xandri never won whenever they spar, hah).

She sat on the grass and let the cool wind whip her face and hair that was tied into a ponytail. She had the urge to blast the girl with lightning and she had to calm down or it would be Xandri's end, once and for all. When she meant not ordinary humans, that didn't mean that Alexandria was immortal.

She didn't even know why they were bestfriends in the first place. Or maybe because, when Laveila first went to Camp Half-Blood Xandri started following her like a crazed stalker after they first met, she didn't know why the weirdo Xandri was watching her every move, but one thing was sure: she was spooked by the girl's actions. When she couldn't take it anymore, she confronted Xandri and she found out that Xandri was amazed at her and she wanted to know why Laveila was so "cool". After that confrontation, Xandri tried to befriend her but it took days for Laveila to accept the offer since she was creeped out by Xandri's actions. When they became friends, Laveila still pondered at the fact why they were friends even though their personalities did not match at all.

She ran a hand on her hair and shook her head; there were some things that she could not understand.

Meanwhile, Xandri was scribbling something on her notebook as she practiced her poetry skills (even though it wasn't included in her activity schedule, she still continued her work as only poetry could make her feel better, so the other campers just left her alone with her misery). She was having a hard time to come up with a worthy poetry as she was still thinking about the glare that Laveila gave her earlier. Usually when she got mad at her, she would just give her the silent treatment. But as she thought about what happened to her last night, she knew she did a wrong turn at pulling a prank at her. Now, she was distracted and she couldn't even think of a single word to write, as she crossed out every word that she just wrote and she ran out of words to write.

She sighed and threw her notebook beside her. She was frustrated at her actions and now she just felt guilty. She wanted to bang her head on something harder than wood. Like a concrete. What she did was stupid and she didn't think about the consequences. Now she felt like she just lost her close friend, just because of a stupid prank.

As she was banging her head using her notebook that she just threw away, a figure loomed behind her. She was too busy to even notice that Travis was grinning like an idiot behind her back. He wasn't supposed to be in the arts and crafts building but he managed to sneak in anyway and Xandri was on a corner and everyone was too busy to even notice him.

He tapped her shoulder but she was grumbling and she was too busy banging her head. He tapped her shoulder again but she did not notice him again. For the third time, he continuously tapped her shoulder until she straightened up and banged her hands on the table and shouted, "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

Everyone turned their heads towards her direction and at that time, Travis already hid behind her, leaving a very embarrassed Xandri. She blinked a couple of times and chuckled at the people who, most of them, raised their eyebrows with a look of bemusement that spread across their faces. She nervously waved at them and they all went back to their work.

She sighed and looked behind her but she looked puzzled when she found no one behind her back. She shrugged and continued her unending poem, oblivious at the fact that a chortling Travis managed to escape without being noticed. He smirked at her reaction and went to on his way.

When Xandri was finished with her poetry making (she wasn't able to make one as she was too busy banging her head with a notebook since she could not forget her stupidity and recent embarrassment), she trudged her way out in the arts and crafts building. She still felt soulless and it took her time to realize that her next activity was archery, her favourite.

Not even her most favourite activity could make her happy. She was mentally stressed as she wasted her little energy by running away from Laveila, mopping in the corner and banging her head off with a notebook. Heck, she even doubted if she could pull a bowstring. She couldn't even walk without stumbling.

She felt like she was infected with a zombie virus.

She walked carefully (or rather tried to, as she almost planted her face on the ground) and went towards the forest. She didn't go to the deepest part of the forest, just where she can still see the camp. She hugged her knees and watched the other kids doing their activities. She wasn't really looking forward to do anything. She still felt guilty and she wanted to whack herself. She felt like the dark world swallowed her whole and she couldn't get out, she was trapped inside her conscience. Sometimes, even the bubbliest person, could really get emotional.

She sighed and closed her eyes to get some rest as she wasn't able to sleep well last night. And at that moment, a mysterious figure loomed again.

The figure crept noiselessly behind her, ready to attack. It was successful since it didn't wake her up. It was getting nearer and nearer when…it accidentally brushed its limb on a bush, startling the sleeping Xandri. She sat up, eyes alert. She looked in front of her and then behind. Nothing.

Then, the figure suddenly landed in front of her which scared the Hades out of her. She scrambled away from the figure; she couldn't see the face clearly as she was under the thick part of the forest. But whoever it was, she feared that it might be in a monster in disguise. But who or what could get past from the camp's magic boundary? Clearly, no one would summon a monster in here? Or it might be Laveila's summon? Why would she want her to be dead anyway?

Whoever he was, she was wary.

She was about to attack the intruder when she saw the figure clearly. She gritted her teeth.

The figure was none other than the famous prankster and thief, Travis Stoll, who was guffawing at her expression. Son of Hermes. Connor's older brother, who might as well have been his twin. Co-Head Counselor of the Hermes cabin, together with his brother. And last but not the least, her bane of existence.

"So, how ya doin'?" he said, in a flirty but playful voice. He was grinning at her and his eyes were full of mirth.

Xandri gave him a look of disbelief as she couldn't believe she almost had a heart attack because of him. Then, she changed her I-cannot-believe-that-it-was-you-all-along look to get-out-of-here-before-you-speak-in-rhymes look.

But Travis did not get her hint and kept on grinning at her, "Sorry, I wanted to give you something but I couldn't find you"

"Well, maybe we weren't destined to meet" she snarled at him, "So, get out of my way and for Apollo's sake, let me rest!"

He acted as if he was really heartbroken, but Xandri just rolled her eyes, and he clutched his chest as if it did hurt, "That hurts my dear Alexandria! I just wanted to give you something, to let you know how you amaze me so much"

"Go. Away." she growled at him.

"But…I just want to-"

"That's it! I'm going!" she said and then turned back, pointing at his face, "And don't even think about following me!"

With that, she went away and stomped her way towards the exit of the forest. But since Travis was Travis, he didn't heed her warning and followed the irritated Xandri.

"Wait a minute!" he called after her, "I just want you to know that you have amazing monkey climbing skills!"

She abruptly stopped and whirled to face him, "Excuse me? DID YOU JUST CALL ME A MONKEY?"

Everyone in the arena who were doing their sword-fighting class whipped their heads towards Xandri and Travis.

But the ticked off Xandri didn't feel self-conscious and went on with her rant, "HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A HAIRY MAMMAL? I'AM A DEMIGOD THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I'AM APOLLO'S DAUGHTER! I'AM A TALENTED ARCHER, POET, MUSICIAN, ARTIST AND A HEALER! I DO NOT EAT LICE NOR DO I LOOK FOR PEOPLE WITH LICE! I EAT BANANAS BUT I DO NOT ACT LIKE A MONKEY!"

Travis winced at her voice but quickly recovered as he remembered something, "Well! Thanks for reminding Alexandria! I just wanted to give you this!"

He fished something out in his cargo pants and gave her banana, to Xandri's annoyance, "I forgot to give you this! Sorry, uh, it kinda looks old but, hey, let's not waste our blessings!"

He gave her a cheeky smile but Xandri did not reply anymore, instead she walked towards him and gave him a punch in the gut.

He crumpled on the ground but still managed to utter some words, although it was quite strained, "You don't want banana?"

"You were not LISTENING TO ME!" she shouted again and stalked away.

Connor, who was looking for his brother for an hour and finally found him, jogged towards Travis and said, "I leave you for an hour and this is what I see? Dude, seriously, why oh why are you kissing the ground?"

Travis groaned (not because of Xandri's punch earlier but of his brother's stupidity or maybe he was just mocking him) and had the urge to punch him also.

Luke also came, as he was the one who was teaching the campers in the arena, and kneeled beside his brother and asked, "You okay? Man, that was a nasty punch from Xandri"

Travis gave him a thumbs-up and got up and Luke helped him up, as he was wobbling when he tried to get up on his own. He glared at Connor who was guffawing at him.

When he managed to stand up, he smacked his brother upside the head and went away, with Luke shaking his head at Connor for being so immature. Connor just shrugged as if it was nothing and also went away, following his brother.

Laveila was still sprawled on the grass, looking at the moving clouds above her. She had been doing that for an hour and for the first time in her life as a demigod (also a daughter of the god of theatrical exits), she felt peaceful. This must have been Thalia's feeling when she joined the Hunters of Artemis. It was rather…nice. Being with Artemis and with other girls, just hunting together, having fun with them for eternity, assuming that they won't be killed in battle. It was like a one big happy family.

But of course, the only problem with that was to swear off boys for life.

It was quite difficult to imagine that.

She got up and sensed a presence. She did not look behind her, but she moved her eyes on the left to see who it was. She sighed and shook her head when she saw the curly blonde hair sticking out behind Peleus the dragon. Peleus was asleep and smoke was coming out from his nostrils, concealing the hiding girl. But Laveila knew that it was definitely Xandri, as she was the only one who loves to stalk her.

She stood up and inwardly groaned.

I guess my peaceful time is over, she grumbled, Thanks for that Xandri

When she walked away, the blonde girl quickly showed herself and ran towards her but failed to do so as she tripped on Peleus' foot. She landed face-first and her curly blonde hair was scattered behind her back, even though she tied it always.

Laveila just looked at her and rolled her eyes before going on. But she stopped again when the other girl shouted, "WAIT!"

"What. Do. You. Want. From. Me?" Laveila gritted her teeth.

"I just came here to apologize for that incident that happened last night…I'm sorry, really I 'am, I just didn't know I was going too far and…well-"

"Well, this is what I know, you should have realized that before you initiated it. Save your saliva, Alexandria, your future apologies are not accepted!" Laveila said and then stalked off.

But Xandri was determined to knock her friend some sense, "YOU'RE BEING UNFAIR! Look I know you're not going to accept it but I'm sorry, okay? Because I gave you a heart attack. But the truth is, I didn't really tell him because you're my friend. Seriously, what is wrong if Luke did find out that you're smitten with him? It's natural! It's part of our world! It-"

Laveila cut her off, "For me, it is NOT natural! It's is stupidity! I hate this feeling and I want to get rid of it! And stop making up lies!"

"You know what, for someone who's very tough, you are just a coward inside. Your exterior is just a mirage, to mask your real feelings, to avoid yourself from getting hurt. Because inside, you're scared and you don't want other people to laugh at you because it would be too ironic for a daughter of the king of Olympus. I don't like saying this but…it just makes you look pathetic"

Rage crossed in Laveila's face, no one ever insulted her like that before…oh, Xandri was going to get it. Big time, "You don't know anything about me Alexandria! So shut up and leave me be!"

And she finally left, not heeding Xandri's call anymore. Who was she to call her coward? She didn't know how confused Laveila was. She had no right to tell those things to her.

Laveila became more confused. She wanted to believe those words that Xandri said to her because it was kind of true but her pride told her that what she said was insulting. She was not a coward. She didn't pretend to be tough. She was already tough. Or was she really?

She shook her head, trying to clear her mind. That girl was trying to confuse her, and sadly, it was working.

"Alexandria, what are you up to this time?" she groaned under her breath.

She just aimlessly walked around the camp, pondering on the other girl's words which got stuck on her head. She didn't even see Luke jogging towards her, his face masked with worry as he saw Laveila looking confused, while kicking a rock.

"Laveila!" he waved at her, to get the girl's attention.

It worked as she looked up and stopped kicking the rock. She unconsciously waved back, forgetting the fact that she was supposed to ignore him. Then, as if she just woke up from a trance, she turned away from Luke and said, "Hey", to a nearby tree.

The dryad popped her head with a face that was unmistakably angry, said, "Shut up! I'm trying to have some peace here you know!" And then she disappeared inside her tree.

"Laveila! You okay?" Luke asked, nearing towards her.

But Laveila was being stubborn again and ignored him and said, "Oh, wow, what a beautiful cricket"

The puzzled Luke incredulously looked at her and asked, "Are you…alright? You seem distracted today"

But she paid no mind and then stooped as if to pick up something, "Hmmm…who would have dropped a coin here?"

"Laveila, are you avoiding me?" Luke asked.

The mentioned girl rolled her eyes and thought, Not really! Can't you see I don't want to talk to you?

But she just shut her mouth and continued to gaze at the imaginary coin on the grass and waited for Luke to go away.

When he finally did, as he could not make her talk, Laveila stood up and sighed as realization struck her.

Xandri was right, she was a coward. Xandri knew her more than she knew herself. But, pride struck once again and mentally told her that it was degrading to let Xandri know that she was right. To see her tell Laveila, "I told you so!"

The idea made Laveila scrunch her nose. She was right but it wasn't really necessary for Xandri to know about it. She'd still give her the cold shoulder. And she'll still execute her plan. A perfect plan that could drive Xandri to insanity.

"Man, Alexandria could really punch hard" a voice groaned near her.

She whipped her head at the voice's direction and a sly smile crept her lips. Tyche was on her side today.

The still groaning Travis trudged his way towards cabin eleven as he clutched his stomach, moaning and wishing that the pain would soon subside. He never thought that a simple banana could get him into trouble. Or maybe it wasn't the banana at all. Maybe it was…gasp…how did he not realize that? She had PMS! Of course, that was why she was scowling all the time. He should have realized that earlier. Oh well, lesson learned this time.

Travis groaned again when a pain shot in his abdomen. Maybe this was Xandri's curse to him, his father, Apollo, was the god of medicine, so maybe he was also the god of pain in the butt –or in his case, stomach.

He was too busy complaining under his breath that he didn't notice his brother standing in front of him like a guard statue, waiting for his brother to bump on him. He stopped when he, as Connor had expected, bumped on him and nearly fell on his butt.

"What was that for? Why are you blocking my way?" he asked his brother, Connor, who was grinning at him.

"Laveila wants to talk to you" he simply said, before he was pulled away by Laveila, smirking like a she-devil.

He gulped, her electric blue eyes was scary to look at, and said a shaky, "You want something from me?"

"Yes, I want you to annoy Xandri until she goes crazy" she casually said, as if it was something common to her.

"Why do you want to drive her to insanity?" he asked her and gave her an incredulous look.

"None of your business" she said and then answered again when Travis was about to say something, "You have no other choice here Stoll, do it or I'll barbecue you with my crunchy lightning bolt"

The shocked Stoll just nodded and quickly went away after the must-have-had-a-nervous-breakdown Laveila said, "Good" and walked away.

After running away from the crazed Laveila, Travis sat on the ground, and pondered at the "talk" that he had with the daughter of Zeus. He smirked at her words, she didn't need to threaten him, he was a son of Hermes after all and annoying people was his forte, besides, he was already annoying Xandri for two summers already. And, to his luck, it was working as she either ignores him or tries to murder him. This was even more fun now that her own bestfriend gave him a go signal, meaning no one could interfere him anymore.

He laughed like a villain in cartoons and earned wary looks from other campers that were nearby.

Meanwhile, Laveila was seriously talking to Chiron with Mr. D belching beside them as he chugged on his unending supply of Diet Coke.

The immortal teacher of heroes was on his wheelchair, looking very worried as Laveila was squirmed in her seat, readying herself to hear something that was troubling Chiron.

Chiron cleared his throat and said, "We have a very bad news"

Laveila nodded but asked, "What is it Chiron?"

Chiron sighed and then went on, "I'm not sure exactly but Mr. D told me that something happened"

She raised her eyebrow, "Which is?"

Chiron looked at Mr. D who was busy playing pinochle with the other satyrs. He cleared his throat and the pudgy wine god looked at them and then Chiron gave him a could-you-please-explain look and then the oversized cherub grumbled under his breath, "I didn't actually listen to them, so I don't know much about it, go talk to the oracle or something and don't bother me or I'll turn you into a shrub" and then he went back to his game.

Laveila looked at Chiron and then he sighed again, "Well, since he doesn't know, let's just ask the oracle"

"I'm going to Rachel Elizabeth Dare's cave?"

"Well duh" Mr. D rolled his eyes.

"Okay" she said and then went off to go to the oracle.

She sighed and then hoped that Rachel wouldn't scare her to death, as he trudged her way towards her cave.


So...how was it? Please Review (I'm not the talkative type, FYI, in case you're all interested)