On my way up to the Aphrodite cabin, I heard several loud bangs and nearly tumbled down the hill.
"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!" I yelled in the general direction of the bangs.
"Language, young one." Jason Grace suddenly was hovering in the air in front of me. I yelped in surprise and swung my crutch. It smacked him upside the head.
"Ow…" he muttered as he dropped himself onto the ground.
"What do you need, Jason?" I asked.
"Came to wish you good luck. You're gonna need it." Jason peered at me over the rims of his glasses.
"Thanks, Grace." I ran my fingers through my short, spiky hair. I examined Jason for a moment, then leaned up on my tiptoes and pushed his glasses up his nose. Then I continued my trek to Cabin 10.
Will was standing outside waiting with a huge ass shotgun slung over his shoulder.
"Hey, Maxwell." he greeted.
"Solace, the fuck is that?"
"Well, I needed a weapon for the quest." he started to explain. "I took a look in the weaponry closet and long story short, turns out I'm a horrible archer but an amazing gunman." He smiled widely.
"Not even gonna go into details on how you figured that out…" I muttered.
"Let's just say I shot twice at two campers who were getting a little bit agressive and yelled, 'NOBODY MOVE!' at the top of my lungs. It was sooo badass. You going in?" He gestured to the door of the Aphrodite cabin.
I nodded and pushed past him inside. I think my part of the room was the only part that was different. I spray-painted the bed frame a bunch of punk colours, so when it was done it as basically a solid black bed frame with neon colours dripping down the posts. I used lime green, bright olive green, turquoise, darkish galaxy purple, and a lighter version of what I like to call garbage green, though it was actually quite pleasant. (A/N: If you want to know the colour scheme I'm talking about go to YouTube and look up Cyber Punk Hair Color, YouTuber Guy Tang). The chest at the foot of the bed was plain black, as were the sheets and pillows. I had photos, so many photos pinned up. There were ones of my first sword fight with Nico, the day I got claimed, pranking the Stolls with Percy and Jason, cannonballing into the lake with Hazel and Reyna, so many photos with so many people and so many memories.
My siblings didn't take notice of me at first. Mitchell was perfecting Lacy's left hand nail polish while she was teaching one of our younger sisters, Mia, how to French braid.
I took a few quiet steps into their circle. Piper noticed me first.
"London! You're leaving tomorrow at daybreak, right?" She waved me over. The circle suddenly became hushed and Aphrodite's locket seemed like ice against my skin.
"Yeah. Came to say goodbye, you know- in case I don't come back." I shrugged and tried to act casual.
"Don't talk like that. On my first quest I was sure I was going to die. Look at me now!" Piper said reassuringly. "On a completely unrelated note, how's the leg?"
I shook it a little. "Ambrosia and nectar always help."
"No doubt about that." Piper laughed.
The silence suddenly seemed almost palpable.
"So, um, I guess it's bye for now, guys." I tried for a smile as I turned to face my siblings.
"Bye for now?" Mitchell sputtered, dropping the nail polish brush. "You've barely spent any time with us these past three years! I doubt you even know our names!"
"I know all your names." I surprised myself by speaking. "You're Mitchell, that's Lacy, Drew, Mia, Anderson, Daniel, Sophia, Piper…" I rattled off names and pointed at my siblings in turn. Then I took a breath.
"Look, I know I haven't been… the best sister. But that doesn't take away from the fact that you're my family. And if I don't come back, I don't want the burden of you guys not knowing that I do care about you on my shoulders. Capisce?" I shouldered Reaper as I glowered at Mitchell.
"You have a funny way of showing it. Silena always made time to spend with us, even though she did betray us, she at least knew who we were as people. Even Piper did when she wasn't off with Grace or saving the world." Drew snapped. "I don't hold any particular affection for you, but being ignored by your family isn't fabulous at all, hon."
"Can I maybe… make up for it?" I hooked one ankle around the other awkwardly.
"One night can't make up for three years of lost time, London." Lacy said sadly.
"I know that. But isn't there anything- something?" I looked around helplessly. I hated feeling helpless. Everyone looked at each other.
Anderson patted the space next to him after a moment. "Come sit. I'd at least like to know you in case something happens." He glared around at the group, who seemed to be having a debate with their eyes.
Finally, one by one, they nodded and I sat down.
"So, tell us, little sister." Mitchell eyed me, swabbing remover on Lacy's index finger. "Who's London Maxwell? What stuff does she like? What's her deepest fears?"
"Um, I like sword fighting?" My voice went up at the end of my statement and I realized I was still gripping Reaper like a lifebuoy. I quickly set it down.
"We know that!" Drew rolled her eyes and adjusted her lip gloss.
"I like seeing the real world, what's outside of Camp. I like Korean dramas-" I paused to enjoy the look of astonishment that crossed over their faces.
"You like Korean dramas?" Piper asked incredulously.
"I started watching them last year." I shrugged. "It popped up on my Recommended on Netflix."
"Oh gods, what else? First Korean dramas, then what?" Mia grinned devilishly.
"I don't know." I chewed the inside of my cheek. "I don't really spend time stewing over my likes and dislikes."
"Oh, come on! Anything?" Anderson asked impatiently, satisfied with the results of Lacy's left hand and propping himself up on his elbows.
"Uhhh… dark spring aesthetic?"
They stared at me blankly.
"You know…" I gestured vaguely as I searched for the right words to describe my favorite time of year, that time of year Nico and I would sit in the cold grass by the lake and catch falling cherry blossoms and drink hot chocolate as the cold breeze made us pull up the collars of our coats and shiver.
"When there's trees that are just budding against heavy storm clouds and when the birds sing before the sun fully rises?" I wildly speculated, trying to paint the picture I so clearly saw in my head out of words for them. "When the crocuses are so impossibly purple and when you open the window on a sunny afternoon expecting the warmth but a gust of cold stillness rushes in in its stead?"
"Oh!" Sophia brightened, looking up from a magazine. "I know what you're talking about. Late spring!"
I sighed. Not exactly. "Good enough."
We spent the rest of the evening talking and laughing and I learned so many things. I learned how Anderson's favorite snack were the Entenmann's Madeleines even though they were fatty, and how Drew's favorite brand was Huda Beauty, how Sophia knew Silena and they were very good friends (she told me I would have liked her a lot), and so many other things.
They even talked me into changing my 'style,' which was usually jeans and a t-shirt/light sweater, depending on the season.
By about 9 o'clock, they had decked me out in a short leather skirt with a pair of ripped black leggings underneath, a black tank with velvet stars on it, with a black leather jacket over it. I looked pretty cool, if I do say so myself. I even took out my contacts.
"I never thought I'd say this, but this was a lot of fun." I found myself saying over a mug of hot chocolate, wrapped in blankets.
"You see what you've been missing out on?" Daniel said gleefully.
"You know, it's like, 9:30. You should really be going to sleep if you wanna wake up well rested tomorrow." Piper glanced at the clock with an air of distaste.
"Yeah, I should…" I mumbled.
Shouts of protests echoed through the Aphrodite Cabin as Piper said, "Lights out, Cabin 10!"
The harpies screeched in protest to the noise outside. I walked over to the window and opened it widely. "Can it, assholes!"
Slamming it shut, I turned to my siblings. "Hold lights for a minute more, Pipes."
Running over to my bed, I opened the chest and pulled out a camera, the kind with film.
Drew seemed to get what I was doing. "Gather around, hons!"
They all crammed into the tiny screen and I snapped a quick shot, examining it with satisfaction.
"Thanks." Everyone murmured their sleepy niceties as I slumped onto my bed and pulled a Sharpie marker out of the bedside drawer.
In the little white frame, I pored over what caption to write. I closed my eyes. The water was running in the bathroom as Drew washed her makeup off. Pages rustled as Sophia put away her magazines. Glass clinked as Mitchell helped Lacy organize her nail polish. Suddenly, just as Piper turned out the lights, it came to me.
In the last moment of light, I uncapped the Sharpie and quickly scribbled two words. Smiling, I pinned it up with the rest of my memories. I pulled the covers over my head and fell asleep with the image of the inhabitants of the Aphrodite Cabin behind my closed lids.
I almost didn't hear Piper creep over to my bed to check if I was asleep. I almost didn't hear her glance at my wall of memories and stifle a gasp. I almost didn't hear her usher my other siblings over to my bed. I almost didn't hear the smile and the happy tears in her voice as she whispered, "Look, guys. Look at that. Do you see what it says?"
I almost didn't hear her read the caption of the photo aloud. "My Family."
But I heard. I heard it all.
My family...
