Hello Peoples!
How are all my favourite people in the world? May I just say, hurray for new followers! So thank you very much! Also, hurray for 800 views! I know to many stories this is a tiny amount, but for me this feels like time for a celebration! Anyways, more important news, BLOOD OF OLYMPUS CAME OUT! And I died. May I just say, I so predicted Solangelo! It is canon now! Seriously, maybe I have a bit of Aphrodite blood in me! I have already predicted three of my friends' crushes and got two of them together with said crush. Anyways, I won't reveal any other spoilers. How many of you have read it? If not, I command you to read it. What were your opinions on it? Anyways, forgive my ramblings, it is currently half eleven and my parents would kill me if they found out I was awake this late on a school night (Oh, I'm such a rebel)
Hope you enjoy this not so great chapter, but I hope you like some of the scenes because I certainly liked writing them! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson, The heroes of Olympus, or anything really except Ava.
Previously on My Life at Camp Half Blood:
"We did it," I said weakly and he laughs quietly. "Yeah. No getting killed by scary men for us," and I laugh. "If they ask, there were twenty of them." "Agreed."
While walking back to the others, I couldn't help but think of how really, our relationship hadn't changed that much. Sure, Conner was maybe just a small bit more annoying, but then again, hadn't I loved him when he was annoying before? Did I just say love? I mean, it's too soon for that. It's not logical! I meant like! Yeah, like. Gods, this time warp thing was muddling my brain!
When a tenth person looked at me weirdly, I wondered if there was dirt on my face. I heard some gossips among housewives, but I could only make out something about 'the audacity of warriors and the easiness of the village girls'. Athena knows what that was about. It all began to click together when the chiton lady stuck her head out the shop door and yelled in Greek "I told you that new chiton would do you good!" I stopped to look in a well at my reflection. My hair was ruffled; the shoulder of my chiton slipping and my cheeks had a rosy glow from the exertion on the run. Holy Zeus, it looked like I had been, how do I put this, doing some extreme making out with Conner. I glanced over at him, noticing how his eyes glittered in amusement. I pulled my hair out of its braid and ran my fingers through it. Conner's permanent smirk didn't help the situation.
"Why didn't you tell me I looked like this?" I demanded, my voice laced with anger. He shrugged, his smirk growing wider. "You look fine to me." I glared at him and quickly braided my hair again, but it still looked a bit dishevelled. A soldier I didn't know came over and started taking to Conner. He glanced over at me fixing the chiton, and clapped him on the back. I glared daggers at the two of them. I fingered my sword, so tempted to do some damage to those arrogant boys. The cheek of them!
Eventually, I was presentable and we managed to find Malcolm, Will and Nico waiting for us. "Took you long enough!" Malcolm said in a matronly fashion. Will and Nico nudged each other, sharing a look that almost said "we know what you did!" I glared at them and nervously patted down my hair. "We got chased by some angry Greek men," I said. "Yeah, there were thirty! I fended them all off with my bare hands! I couldn't let your sister die, now could I Malcolm? So I did the honourable thing and rescued the damsel in distress!" Conner said, smirking. I scoffed. "Fought them off with your bare hands? More liked ran away like a 6 year old! If anyone was a 'damsel in distress' it was you!" I raised my eyebrow at him and he glared at him. "If that what helps you sleep at night…." I smacked his arm and he moved a step away, rubbing his arm. "Malcolm! Control you sister!"
Once we got on the road once more, everything was fairly peaceful. We passed through a few more villages. In each one, the villagers came out to see the string of chariots, all carrying the symbol of Olympus. Once the sun was setting over the hills, casting an orange glow over Greece, we stopped to set up camp. I collapsed onto the ground, tired from standing all day. The others immediately set about putting up the tents, so I hauled myself up, my limbs creaking from stiffness. I grabbed the poles and cloth they used and tried to watch the others to see what to do. I stuck some poles into the earth and draped the cloth over it. To be honest, it looked like a three year old made it. I sighed in frustration.
"You're doing it wrong," a voice behind me said. I turned to find Conner leaning against a tree, a smirk playing on his lips. "No shit Sherlock!" I grunted back in frustration. How hard was it to put up a tent? Apparently, very hard. "Who's Sherlock?" asked Travis from where he was putting stuff in their tent. I decided it was best to just ignore him. Conner walked over to the tent and flicked it with his finger. It immediately collapsed to the ground. "Hey! I have to sleep in that!" I exclaimed and he gives me a look as if to shut up. I huffed and crossed my arms. Ancient Greek Conner was annoying. In seconds he had a perfect tent up. I looked in disbelief. "Hermes, god of travellers, remember?" was all he said. I shoved my stuff into the tent and muttered a word of thanks. "What was that? I didn't hear you," he says, smirking. "That's a pity. I only speak once," I smiled sweetly and he glares. We ended up in one of those intense staring competitions. I gave him my best Athena stare and he looks away nervously. My turn to smirk. Oh, the joys of having my mother's eyes.
"So, what do you guys do for showers?" I ask when we're eating dinner around a camp fire. The boys looked at each other in confusion. "What's a shower?" Will asked eventually. My mouth dropped until I remember there weren't any showers in Ancient Greece. They look at me expectantly. I fumble for answers as they stare. "Eh, it's when you wash yourself, but instead of in a bath, it's like rain, but warm," I decided on eventually. "Warm rain?" asked Travis in confusion. "I've never heard of that, and I should know. I'm an expert on water!" stated Percy. "Maybe it's just for girls," Leo suggested and they decided this was the best answer. "If you want to wash, we all wash in the nearest river, like the one behind those trees. I wrinkled my nose. "River?" and they all nod. "We all do it early. I suppose you can come," says Percy innocently and Malcolm slaps the back of his head. "She's a girl, stupid!" and Percy looks at him in confusion until Will leans over and whispers something in his ear, and his eyes go wide and he blushes to the roots of his hair. The others laugh and I just look at my hands, blushing furiously. I really hate boys sometimes. "Well, you can go wash on your own then," Percy eventually says. "Damn right I will!" I said indignantly, "I'll lock you in your tents so you won't look," they laugh but then realise I'm serious. "What? I can't have you all wandering around. Now, off you go!"
I herded them all into a few tents, telling Malcolm to keep an eye on them and make sure they don't get out. Grabbing some spare tent cloth and draping it across trees around the river. I made sure no one had escaped, and then stripped quickly and washed in record speed then once more wrapped the bothersome chiton around me. I sat on one of the rocks and used one of the cups to wash my hair. I yell to say they can come out now and a stream of boys emerges from the tents. They glance at my awkward attempts to wash my hair. I huffed in frustration as I ended up drenching my chiton. Anger consumed me as the cup disappeared into the river. I'm not cut out for this life. I can't function without technology. Gods, I can barely handle not having a shower. Tears spring to my eyes when a familiar voice is heard from behind me. "Having a bit of trouble there?" asked a sarcastic Conner Stoll. I turn, furiously wiping the tears away so he can't see. I hate appearing weak. Athena's kids aren't weak. We do not cry over trivial things.
His face instantly softens as he walks over and crouches beside me. "What's wrong," he asked, worry lacing his voice. I gulp, trying to stop crying. I hiccup, and sniff, frustrated at my weakness. "I miss home," I said simply, as if I'm as innocent as a five year old. He nodded, blue eyes searching grey, and gently rubbed my shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. We'll be your new family," he smiled softly, I find myself smiling softly back. His smile reminds me of all things happy, sunshine, chocolate, camp, friends, new swords etcetera, etcetera. "Now, seens as you are going to drown yourself if you keep doing that, I think I'll take over the hair washing."
I spend the next half hour lying on the dry rocks, while Conner sits on a rock in the middle of the stream. My long blonde hair dangles in the river, and he lifts it up in his hands, pours water in it and lets it drop back. It turns into a rhythm. Lift, pour and drop. He runs his fingers through it to untangle it. I contain a shiver as he runs his fingers through the now silky smooth hair. I can almost sense him smirk. I think back to camp Conner. Yes, he is as mischievous and annoying as Greece Conner, but both are equally sweet. "You should become a hairdresser," I tell him and he laughs. "I think I'll stick with being a soldier."
We sit, continuing the rhythm uninterrupted for about half an hour. We don't talk much, but the silence is comfortable. Conner is very concentrated, sticking his tongue out of the corner of his mouth, bunching up his eyebrows in a very cute manner. By this time, it is dark, and the only light comes from a few lanterns stuck in the ground surrounding the river. Conner's eyes glint with the light from the flames. The light casts shadows across the river. I try not to worry about monsters. It's a wonder we haven't attracted some before now. I mean, we must stink A LOT. Well, except me, I just had a bath.
I spot something moving in the shadows, and my body tenses. Conner notices this, and looks up, poised to leap to action. My hand creeps to my sword. Instead of a growl, I hear a shriek, a clatter of dropped cutlery, and see the fleeting figure of Leo Valdez run back to camp. I groan. Of course it would be the biggest gossip in the world that would find us. Conner shrugs, and returns to pouring the water. Personally, I think he likes it. He hasn't noticed there's probably no more dirt or grease in it. Leo comes back, accompanied by Nico and Will Solace. They gasp and nudge each other and I can hear a faint "I told you so," from Will. "Go away guys," Conner yells and they smirk, and shrink back into the shadows.
I sigh. "Can't get any privacy here," Conner said nonchalantly. "Says the guy who walks in on people washing!" I retort and he stops running his fingers through my hair. "Do you want me stop?" he asks sarcastically and I shut up. The reason, he is bloody amazing at running his fingers through people's hair. Unfortunately, who comes in only my protective big brother. "Ehm, Conner, I think Ava's hair is washed," he said sternly and we sigh. I get up, as does Conner. I gave Malcolm my best glare and he motions me to leave. "Thank you Conner," I say, turning to him. He smiles that heart breaking smile. I can sense the whole 'stay away from my sister or I will rearrange your face' talk coming so I shoot him an apologetic look, then to spite Malcolm, I lean up and kiss him on the cheek, giving Malcolm a look that says 'try me'. Oh I love our sibling banter.
The next morning, I bribe Will into telling me how the talk went. He smiled as if treasuring the memory. "Well, Malcolm told Conner to stop flirting with you, then he said you weren't Malcolm's property and Malcolm was all like 'I'm gonna go all protective if you make a move on her' and Conner was all like 'see if I care' and it was very entertaining." Will says, and I can't help but think he's a bit of a fanboy. In other words, not that different from modern Will.
So, day three and I wasn't any closer to finding out what was going on. I had come to the conclusion that either this was a super weird, prolonged dream or the Fates decided it would be fun to send me to an alternative universe. Gods, I hated those three gals at the minute.
The day carried on the same as the others. Tidy up camp, start back on the road, quick rest for the horses then back on the road. Malcolm decided Conner was a bad influence on me, so I had to ride in his chariot. I decide I might as well have some fun during his 'punishment'.
"Are we there yet?" I asked, deciding to play it off as my ADHD. Malcolm sighed. "No, not yet." I waited a few seconds. "Are we there yet?" "No, Ava, in those five seconds, we did not magically arrive at our destination." I turned around to Percy and Leo who were in the chariot behind us and winked. "Are we there yet?" "No." "Are we there yet?" "No!" "Are we there yet?" "NO AVA WE ARE NOT THERE YET SO DON'T ASK THAT QUESTION AGAIN" Malcolm screamed, much to the delight of the charioteers around us. "Well, are we there now?" "AVA!" "What? You said I couldn't ask 'are we there yet'. I asked 'are we there now'"
After Malcolm threatened to throw me out of the chariot if I didn't show up, I decided to wait a few minutes this time before I tried my next stunt. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. He seemed to have calmed down a bit. Travis in the chariot in front of us, looked around, and sent me a look that asked what I was going to do next. I motioned for him to wait a few moments. He nodded and turned back around. I cleared my throat, before singing at the top of my voice.
"THE WHEELS ON THE CHARIOT GO ROUND AND ROUND, ROUND AND ROUND, ROUND AND ROUND. THE WHEELS ON THE CHARIOT GO ROUND AND ROUND, ALL DAY LONG!"
Travis, Percy, Leo, Nico, Will, Conner and few others joined in for the second verse.
"THE SWORDS ON THE CHARIOT GO CLANG, CLANG, CLANG. CLANG, CLANG, CLANG. CLANG, CLANG ,CLANG. THE SWORDS ON THEW CHARIOT GO CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, ALL DAY LONG!"
"ENOUGH!" yelled Malcolm. The others stopped but I decided to keep singing.
"THE MALCOLMS ON THE CHARIOT GO NAG, NAG, NAG. NAG, NAG, NAG, NAG, NAG,NAG. THE MALCOLMS ON THE CHARIOT GO NAG, NAG, NAG, ALL DAY LONG!"
Malcolm wouldn't let me carry onto verse four because he pulled over and kicked me out. I had to squish in between Leo and Percy for the rest of the trip.
We stopped for rest at a river after about two hours. Malcolm was still fuming from my behaviour so I decided to take a walk along the river back to get away from it. I kicked a stone along the edge. I was sick of Greece. I wanted out. It seems someone was listening and decided to take me literally because out from the shadows of the trees burst a massive, black hellhound. I froze in fear. One thing I do not like is hell hounds. I don't know why, I had always liked Mrs O'Leary but something inside told me to fear them now. I snapped out of it, my battle senses kicking in. I leapt into action, drawing my sword and summoning my shield right before the hellhound could claw at me. I shielded my face from its claws and began circling it. It bared it's fangs at me, its red eyes glowed ominously, daring me to make the first move. I never turn down a dare.
I sprang forward, my sword poised to slash. My blade came crashing down on its head, cutting a deep slash over its eye. The beast howled in pain, and I could hear shouting and footsteps coming. I dodged its massive paws as it swung around blindly. I slashed at its paw, causing more howls. I ran it, and leapt onto its back, just as the army rounded the bend of the river, looking in shock to see me on top of a fully grown hellhound. I suppose they thought I would faint, and pull the whole 'damsel in distress' scenario. I bet Conner would love that.
I stabbed my sword into the dog's neck and it gave a final howl and disappeared into a pile of yellow monster dust, leaving me sitting in the river. I stood up and brushed myself down as the others swarmed over. "Ava, did you just take out a fully grown hellhound?" Malcolm asked in disbelief. I looked at him like this wasn't a big thing but honestly, the hellhound scared the shit out of me. I seemed to remember something to do with hellhounds that made me uneasy. Maybe it was just because they just sprang from the shadows when you least expect it. I knelt down in the river and washed the goo from my sword. With a flick of my wrist, my shield shrank back into a celestial bronze bracelet.
"Right, are you ready to stop looking like I just killed Kronos himself or are we going to get a move on?"